ELAINE  GOODALE  EASTMAN 


INDIAN  LEGENDS  RETOLD 


BOOKS  BY 
ELAINE  GOODALE  EASTMAN 


YELLOW  STAR 

INDIAN  LEGENDS  RETOLD 


In  Collaboration  with 
CHARLES  A.  EASTMAN 

WIGWAM  EVENINGS 


THE  CAPTIVE 

The  murdered  dove  instantly  became  a  whole  flock  of  hawks. 
Frontispiece.      See  page  IS. 


INDIAN 
LEGENDS  RETOLD 


BY 

ELAINE  GOODALE  EASTMAN 

WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS   BY 

GEORGE  VARIAN 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BKOWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1919 


Copyright,  1919, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved 
Published,  September,  1919 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  by  J.  S.  Gushing  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
Prtsswork  by  S.  J.  Parkhill  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

THE  author  wishes  to  thank  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  Washington,  B.C., 
for  kind  permission  to  make  use  of  certain 
of  the  stories  contained  in  their  collections. 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF   INDIAN 
LEGENDS 

THE  first  Indian  legends,  repeated 
by  the  fireside  to  children,  deal 
with  the  animals  humanized,  their 
gifts  and  their  weaknesses,  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  a  lesson  to  the  young.  Our 
view  of  the  creation  allows  a  soul  to 
all  living  creatures,  and  rocks  and  trees 
are  reverenced  as  sharers  in  the  divine. 
Beyond  their  simplicity  and  realism  there 
is  always  the  unexplained,  the  back 
ground  of  mystery  and  spirituality. 

These  animal  fables  serve  as  an  intro 
duction  to  more  complicated  stories  with 
human  actors,  which  almost  always  have 
their  hidden  moral  and  are  accepted  by 
our  people  as  guides  to  life.  They  are 

vii 


VU1  INTRODUCTION 

full  of  humor  and  poetry,  of  pride, 
tenderness,  boastfulness,  and  real  hero 
ism.  Human  lives  are  mingled  with  the 
supernatural,  with  elements  and  mys 
terious  powers,  bringing  swift  punish 
ment  for  wrong-doing.  This  is  the  basis 
of  our  Indian  philosophy,  the  groundwork 
early  laid  in  the  mind  of  the  child,  for 
him  to  develop  later  in  life  by  his  own 
observation. 

One  who  reads  these  stories  carefully 
and  thoughtfully  will  understand  some 
thing  of  Indian  psychology.  Mystery 
to  the  Indian  is  not  mystery  after  all, 
but  a  reflection  of  the  Great  Mystery 
which  opens  out  as  simply  as  a  flower. 
To  us  nothing  is  strange  or  impossible. 
It  seems  natural  that  an  animal  or  even 
a  rock  should  speak;  God  is  in  it  and 
speaks  through  it. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  these 
are  only  fragments  of  what  were  once 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

consecutive  and  continued  stories,  too 
long  and  involved  to  be  set  down  here  in 
full.  With  just  such  stories  the  founda 
tion  of  my  early  education  was  laid  in 
the  cold  winter  evenings,  and  the  im 
pression  made  was  permanent.  The 
characters  were  real  people  to  me,  and 
the  tales  of  the  old  men  and  old  women 
fostered  a  love  of  nature,  reverence,  a 
kindly  spirit,  and  finally  patriotism  and 
the  inspiration  to  heroic  effort.  Like 
the  other  boys,  I  was  expected  to  learn 
them  by  heart  and  rehearse  them  in 
the  family  circle.  It  is  gratifying  to 
have  these  old  stories  saved  for  the 
children  of  another  race  and  generation. 

CHARLES  A.  EASTMAN  (OHIYESA). 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION vii 

A  LITTLE  TALK  ABOUT  INDIANS        .        .  1 

PIMA  TALES 11 

CHEROKEE  TALES 23 

CHOCTAW  STORIES 51 

IROQUOIS  TALES 65 

TSIMSHIAN  TALES 77 

ALASKAN  STORIES                                        .  137 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  murdered  dove  instantly  became 

a  whole  flock  of  hawks        .         Frontispiece 

One  contrived  to  pull  her  son  down  but 
the  other  six  went  up  into  the 
sky PAGE  44 

He  makes  it  choose  one  of  three  gifts         "       55 

He  rudely  pushed  her  backward  until 

she  fell  down  ..."       83 

He  discovered  the  woman  in  a  small 

t      pool "Ill 

He  took  him  to  a  tall  stump  in  the 
very  middle  of  the  lake  and  there 
he  left  him  .  "  144 


A  LITTLE  TALK  ABOUT  INDIANS 


INDIAN  LEGENDS 
RETOLD 

A  LITTLE  TALK  ABOUT  INDIANS 

MANY  of  us  think  of  the  Amer 
ican  Indians  as  all  one  people. 
We  talk  of  "the  Indian  lan 
guage."    There  are  more  than  fifty  dis 
tinct  Indian  languages. 

There  are  many  other  important  dif 
ferences  between  the  various  tribes.  The 
nature  of  the  country,  the  kinds  of  game 
and  other  foods,  the  climate,  winds,  trees, 
all  have  their  effect  in  molding  the  daily 
lives  of  the  people.  Their  habits  and  cus 
toms  are  reflected  in  their  legends  and 
popular  tales  as  in  a  looking-glass. 

The  mountains,  plains,  and  seashore 
are  the  great  natural  features  of  our 


4         A   LITTLE   TALK   ABOUT   INDIANS 

country,  and  corresponding  to  these  we 
have  coast  tribes,  prairie  tribes,  and 
forest-dwellers  or  mountaineers  among 
the  natives.  If  you  try,  you  will  soon 
be  able  to  tell  from  reading  a  story 
what  part  of  the  country  it  came  from. 
It  is  an  interesting  study  to  read  and 
compare  the  legends  of  different  tribes. 

The  Cherokees  lived  originally  in  the 
South  Atlantic  States  and  some  few  still 
have  their  homes  in  the  mountains  of 
North  Carolina,  but  the  greater  part  of 
the  tribe  was  forcibly  removed  many 
years  ago  to  the  old  Indian  Territory. 
There  they  developed  a  civilized  govern 
ment,  established  schools  and  colleges, 
and  are  now  well  educated  and  inter 
mixed  with  white  people.  The  stories 
repeated  here  were  gathered  from  the 
eastern  or  parent  branch.  Their  shrewd 
ness  and  quick  wit  is  very  noticeable. 
Sequoyah,  whose  impressive  statue  stands 


A   LITTLE   TALK   ABOUT   INDIANS          5 

in  bronze  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol 
at  Washington,  was  the  famous  Cherokee 
who  invented  an  alphabet. 

The  Choctaws  formerly  lived  in  Missis 
sippi  and  Louisiana  but  are  now  one  of  the 
Five  Civilized  Tribes  of  Oklahoma  (once 
Indian  Territory) . 

TheTsimshiansare  Indians  of  the  North 
Pacific  coast  and  in  the  old  days  lived 
mainly  by  fishing.  They  also  hunted  deer, 
bears,  and  other  animals.  Their  houses  and 
boats  were  made  chiefly  of  cedar  wood, 
and  they  also  wove  the  bark  of  the  cedar 
into  baskets,  ropes,  mats,  and  even  cloth 
ing.  The  salmon  and  the  cedar  were  to 
them  what  the  buffalo  was  to  the  Indians 
of  the  Great  Plains,  so  you  will  not  be 
surprised  by  the  many  references  to  them 
both  in  these  stories.  There  is  a  strong 
likeness  between  their  customs  and  those 
of  the  Alaskan  tribes. 

The  home  of  the  brave  and  manly 


6         A   LITTLE   TALK  ABOUT   INDIANS 

Iroquois  was  in  the  valley  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  the  basins  of  Lakes  Erie  and 
Ontario,  and  most  of  what  is  now  the 
State  of  New  York.  They  were  an  ex 
ceptionally  gifted  people,  wise  in  state 
craft  and  active  in  warfare.  They 
believed  in  the  manlike  form  and  magic 
power  of  the  creatures  and  elements. 

The  Pimas  are  a  gentle,  peaceable, 
brown-skinned  people,  living  in  Arizona, 
making  fine  pottery,  weaving  beautiful 
mats  and  baskets,  and  raising  corn. 
Like  the  other  desert  tribes,  their  songs 
and  stories  have  much  to  do  with  the 
rain  clouds,  upon  which  their  crops  de 
pend.  They  formerly  stood  in  great 
fear  of  the  warlike  Apaches,  who  often 
attacked  them  and  carried  off  women 
and  children  captive. 

I  suppose  you  all  know  that  these  legends 
were  not  written  down  at  all  until  white 
people  or  educated  Indians  put  them  into 


A   LITTLE   TALK  ABOUT   INDIANS         7 

books.  They  were  made  up  by  unknown 
story-tellers,  far  back  in  the  past,  and 
repeated  by  old  men  and  women  for  the 
amusement  and  instruction  of  the  young 
folks.  Thus  they  were  handed  down, 
with  some  changes  or  additions,  from 
one  generation  to  another. 

Indians  had  good  memories.  There 
were  no  libraries  or  museums  or  universi 
ties.  All  their  wisdom  and  their  tradi 
tions  were  stored  up  in  the  heads  of  the 
people,  and  a  thing  once  forgotten  was 
lost  forever.  They  had  not  even  a 
notebook  or  memorandum  to  help  out 
a  poor  memory. 

It  is  not  so  simple  to  invent  a  short 
tale  that  is  witty  and  ingenious,  with 
as  much  point  and  meaning  as  have  most 
of  these  we  are  giving  you,  as  you  will 
soon  find  out  if  you  try  to  make  up  some 
fables  or  fairy  tales  of  your  own.  To 
remember  and  tell  over  such  a  story  in 


8         A  LITTLE   TALK  ABOUT   INDIANS 

a  clear  and  effective  way,  without  miss 
ing  any  of  its  logical  or  dramatic  quality 
—  even  this  is  no  very  easy  matter. 
The  hearing  and  repeating  of  the  legends 
took  in  large  part  the  place  of  both  school 
and  story-books  to  the  Indian  boy  or  girl, 
and  it  is  good  practice  for  any  of  us. 

It  seems  likely  that  every  tribe  has 
in  its  folklore  a  mischievous  character 
with  supernatural  powers,  who  is  at 
the  same  time  a  butt  for  jokes  and  a 
successful  wonder-worker.  He  is  boast 
ful  and  resourceful,  always  trying  to 
outwit  other  people,  and  in  his  turn  is 
often  outwitted.  Among  the  Sioux  this 
character  is  known  as  Unktomee,  the 
Spider ;  the  Tsimshians  call  him  the 
Raven ;  the  Cherokees  the  Rabbit. 

Besides  this  clown,  as  it  were,  whose 
tricks  and  troubles  are  endless,  every 
animal  has  its  personal  or  human  side, 
sometimes  one  that  is  obvious,  and  again 


A  LITTLE   TALK  ABOUT   INDIANS         9 

it  may  be  decidedly  puzzling.  The 
Turtle,  for  instance,  is  depicted  as 
a  famous  warrior  (we  hardly  see  why) 
and  the  Porcupine  as  a  wise  man,  which 
we  should  scarcely  have  expected.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  seems  quite  natural  to  find 
the  Grizzly  Bear  the  chief  among  animals, 
and  the  Eagle  the  leader  among  birds. 

Indian  legends  are  broadly  classed  as 
"myths'7  and  "folk  tales."  The  first 
tell  in  a  fanciful  way  how  the  world  was 
made,  how  winter,  summer,  fire,  tides, 
and  many  other  familiar  things  or  con 
ditions  came  into  being.  They  go  back 
to  a  time  which  all  Indians  believed  in, 
when  the  animals  were  real  people  and 
could  talk  as  we  do.  They  could  do 
many  wonderful  things  beside  that  we 
cannot  do.  The  Winds,  Cold,  the  Stars, 
and  so  on  are  personified;  that  is,  they 
are  described  and  act  as  persons,  and 
there  are  also  giants,  witches,  water 


10         A   LITTLE   TALK   ABOUT   INDIANS 

sprites    and    fairy    people    who    change 
their  nature  at  will. 

In  many  of  the  folk  tales,  which  come 
nearer  being  a  record  of  actual  or  pos 
sible  happenings,  the  lovable  and  do 
mestic  qualities  of  Indians  are  brought 
out  very  clearly.  Notice  the  loving 
brothers  and  the  affectionate  husband 
in  "The  Woman  Who  Became  a  Beaver" 
and  "The  Wooden  Wife."  The  duty  of 
hospitality  is  taught  in  the  story  of 
"Grizzly  Bear  and  the  Four  Chiefs", 
kindness  to  animals  in  "The  Feast  of 
the  Mountain  Goats",  patience  with 
children  in  "The  Naughty  Grandchil 
dren"  and  "The  Stars  and  the  Pine." 
In  every  instance  the  right-doer  is  re 
warded,  the  selfish  man  and  the  trickster 
are  punished.  I  hope  that  you  will  enjoy 
these  stories  as  much  as  I  have  done,  and 
that  they  may  help  you  to  know  and  like 
better  the  first  Americans. 


PIMA  TALES 


PIMA  TALES 

CHILDREN   OF   THE   CLOUD 

THERE  was  sorrow  on  the  Casa 
Grande   (the  Great  Pueblo),  for 
the  prettiest  woman  in  the  village 
would  accept  no  man  for  her  husband. 
Her  suitors  were  many  and  impatient, 
but   her   black   glossy   locks   were   still 
wound   above  her  ears  in   the   manner 
of  virgins,   and  she  steadily  refused  to 
allow  them  to  hang  down  in  the  matron's 
coils. 

One  day  a  great  Cloud  came  out  of 
the  east,  looked  down  upon  the  maiden 
and  wished  to  marry  her,  for  she  was 
very  beautiful.  A  second  time  and  a 
third  he  floated  silently  overhead,  and 
at  last  he  found  her  tired  out  with  work 


14  PIMA  TALES 

and  lying  asleep  at  her  mat-weaving. 
He  let  fall  a  single  drop  of  rain  upon  her, 
and  by  and  by  twin  boys  were  born. 

Now  when  the  boys  were  about  ten 
years  old,  they  began  to  notice  that 
other  boys  had  fathers  whom  they  wel 
comed  home  from  war  and  the  chase. 
"Mother,"  said  they,  "who  shall  we 
call  our  father?" 

"In  the  morning  look  to  the  east," 
their  mother  answered,  "and  you  will 
see  a  stately  white  cloud  towering  heaven 
ward.  That  cloud  is  your  father." 

Then  they  begged  to  go  visit  their 
father,  and  she  refused,  for  she  was 
afraid;  but  when  the  boys  grew  large 
and  strong  she  could  no  longer  keep  them, 
since  they  were  determined  to  go.  She 
told  them  to  journey  four  full  days  to 
the  eastward  and  not  to  stop  once  on 
the  way. 

Her    sons    followed    her   instructions, 


PIMA   TALES  15 

and  in  four  days  they  came  to  the  house 
of  the  Wind.  "Are  you  our  father?" 
asked  they. 

"No,"  replied  Wind,  "I  am  your 
uncle.  Your  father  lives  in  the  next 
house;  go  and  find  him." 

They  did  so,  but  Cloud  sent  them  back 
to  Wind,  telling  them  that  he  was  really 
the  one  whom  they  sought.  Again  Wind 
sent  them  to  Cloud.  Four  times  they 
went  back  and  forth,  and  the  fourth  time 
Cloud  saw  that  they  were  persistent  and 
he  said  to  them:  "You  say  that  you 
are  my  sons.  Prove  it !" 

Instantly  the  younger  son  sent  forked 
lightning  leaping  across  the  heavens, 
while  the  elder  caused  the  heat  lightning 
to  flash  in  the  distance.  The  skies 
opened  and  rain  came  down  in  torrents, 
enough  to  drown  a  mere  mortal,  but  the 
boys  only  laughed  at  the  roar  and  rush 
of  the  tempest.  Then  Cloud  saw  that 


16  PIMA  TALES 

they  were  in  truth  his  children,  and  he 
took  them  to  his  house. 

After  they  had  been  there  a  long  time, 
they  began  to  miss  their  mother  sorely, 
and  finally  they  wished  to  return  to  earth. 
Their  father  gave  each  a  magic  bow  and 
arrows,  strictly  charging  them  to  avoid 
any  whom  they  might  meet  on  the  home 
ward  path. 

First  the  Eagle  on  mighty  wing  swooped 
toward  them,  and  they  turned  aside. 
Then  came  the  Hawk,  and  afterward 
the  Raven,  but  the  boys  managed  to 
elude  all  of  these.  Last  the  Coyote 
sought  to  intercept  them,  and  which 
ever  way  they  turned,  he  was  always 
before  them.  So  they  stepped  out  of 
the  road  and  stood  one  on  either  side  to 
allow  him  to  pass.  But  when  Coyote 
came  opposite  to  them,  each  was  changed 
into  a  plant  of  the  mescal,  the  sacred  agave, 
which  is  both  food  and  drink  to  the  Indian. 


PIMA   TALES  17 

THE  CAPTIVE 

There  was  once  a  little  boy  who  was 
brought  up  by  his  grandmother.  While 
he  was  yet  very  young,  his  mother  had 
been  taken  captive  by  the  warlike 
Apaches.  He  thought  about  her  a  great 
deal,  for  he  had  heard  that  they  treat 
their  prisoners  cruelly. 

One  day  he  made  up  his  mind  to  run 
away  and  find  her.  The  way  was  long 
and  hard,  but  at  last  he  descried  the 
enemy's  camp  upon  the  plain,  and  when 
he  came  nearer,  he  could  see  a  woman 
standing,  looking  toward  the  mesa  and 
her  old  home.  He  knew  her  at  once 
by  the  white  scars  which  covered  her 
arms,  showing  where  she  had  been  tor 
tured  with  fire.  The  child  turned  him 
self  into  a  dove  and  flew  straight  to  his 
mother,  who  took  him  in  her  hands,  and 
recognized  him  as  her  son. 


18  PIMA  TALES 

She  caressed  and  fondled  him,  but 
told  him  that  he  must  fly  home  again 
before  the  Apache  chief  returned,  as  it 
would  not  be  safe  for  him  to  stay.  While 
they  were  talking  together,  the  chief 
entered  suddenly. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  whispering 
to  that  dove?"  he  demanded  fiercely. 
" There  is  sorcery  here."  And  he  took 
the  bird  in  his  powerful  hands  and 
squeezed  it  so  that  the  delicate  flesh 
and  bones  oozed  out  between  his  fingers. 

The  woman  screamed,  and  the  mur 
dered  dove  instantly  became  a  whole 
flock  of  hawks,  which  beat  the  chief  down 
with  their  wings  and  pecked  out  his  eyes. 
While  they  attacked  him,  the  captive  es 
caped,  and  returned  to  her  own  people. 

THE  NAUGHTY  GRANDCHILDREN 

An  old  woman  had  set  her  pot  on  the 
fire  with  the  soup  for  dinner,  and  as. her 


PIMA  TALES  19 

two  grandchildren  were  playing  near, 
she  cautioned  them  not  to  upset  the  pot. 
The  boy  and  girl  were  in  a  frolicsome 
mood,  chasing  one  another  with  shouts 
of  laughter;  and  as  they  ran  they  heed 
lessly  struck  against  the  pot,  which 
rolled  over  and  broke  in  pieces,  spilling 
the  rich  broth  into  the  ashes. 

Now  when  their  grandmother  saw  the 
mischief  they  had  done  in  spite  of  her 
warning,  she  caught  and  whipped  them 
both.  Thereupon  the  children  deter 
mined  to  run  away. 

As  soon  as  she  missed  them,  the  old 
woman  followed  the  runaways  out  into 
the  desert,  calling  loudly  upon  them  to 
come  back,  for  she  had  only  punished 
them  for  their  own  good  and  loved  them 
both  dearly.  However,  run  as  fast  as 
she  might,  she  could  never  come  up  with 
them.  The  two  children  were  never 
seen  again ;  but  it  is  said  that  they  were 


20  PIMA   TALES 

turned  into  two  giant  cacti  and  still 
stand  side  by  side  upon  the  plain. 

BLUEBIRD  AND  COYOTE 

In  the  old  days  the  animals  wore  no 
such  fine  clothing  as  now,  and  the  blue 
bird  was  of  an  ugly  dun  color,  which 
made  him  very  unhappy.  One  fine 
morning  he  came  to  a  lake  shining  like 
turquoise,  and  something  told  him  to 
bathe  in  the  water. 

Lightly  he  skimmed  above  the  waves 
and  dipped  his  wings  four  times,  singing 
as  he  did  so : 

"  Here  is  blue  water  — 
I  go  in  — 
I  am  all  blue!" 

The  fourth  time  that  he  sang  the  verse 
and  shook  the  water  from  his  feathers, 
they  really  became  bright  blue ! 

Just  then  Coyote  appeared,  in  time  to 
see  the  transformation.  "If  you  can 


PIMA  TALES  21 

make  yourself  beautiful  by  bathing  in 
the  lake,  I  can  do  as  much/7  said  he,  and 
accordingly  he  took  the  plunge.  Coyote 
could  not  swim,  and  he  choked  and 
strangled  and  was  almost  drowned. 
When  at  last  he  contrived  to  get  upon 
dry  land,  he  was  shivering  with  cold. 
He  rolled  and  rolled  in  the  warm  sand, 
which  stuck  to  his  fur,  and  he  became 
dirt  color,  just  as  you  see  him  now. 


CHEROKEE  TALES 


CHEROKEE  TALES 
THE   FIRST   FIRE 

IN  the  old  days  there  was  no  fire  on 
earth,  and  the  worldnvas  a  cold  and  a 
dreary  place,  especially  at  night  and 
in  the  winter.  Think  what  it  would  be  if 
we  had  no  hearth  at  which  to  warm  our 
selves,  no  coals  to  broil  our  venison ! 

One  night,  in  the  midst  of  a  thunder 
storm,  the  lightning  struck  a  great  hollow 
sycamore,  and  it  began  to  burn.  When 
the  people  saw  it,  they  all  wanted  to 
get  some  fire,  but  the  tree  stood  in  a 
swamp  where  there  was  no  firm  ground 
for  them  to  walk  on.  Many  tried  and 
were  stuck  fast  in  the  bog. 

The  Raven  easily  flew  across  and  got 
so  close  to  the  blaze  that  his  feathers 


26  CHEROKEE   TALES 

were  burnt  black,  and  black  they  have 
been  to  this  day,  but  he  brought  back 
no  fire.  Then  the  Screech  Owl  tried, 
and  he  flew  to  the  top  of  the  burning 
tree  from  which  he  looked  down  on  the 
hot  coals,  and  got  the  red  eyes  that  he 
has  had  ever  since.  The  large  Hoot 
ing  Owl  followed  his  brother,  and  the 
smoke  gave  him  those  white  rings  around 
his  eyes  that  you  have  all  noticed.  The 
Black  Snake  said  he  would  try,  and  he 
wriggled  into  a  small  hole  at  the  foot  of 
the  tree,  but  he  was  immediately  burnt 
black,  and  was  scorched  so  badly  into 
the  bargain  that  he  has  done  nothing 
but  twist  and  squirm  to  this  day.  Not 
one  of  them  brought  back  any  fire. 

At  last  the  little  Water  Spider  wove  a 
silken  basket  which  he  placed  on  his 
back,  and  then  he  spun  a  fine  silken 
thread  for  a  bridge  and  ran  across  on  it. 
He  reached  the  tree  safely,  put  a  tiny 


CHEROKEE   TALES  27 

live  coal  in  the  basket,  and  brought  it 
back  to  the  waiting  tribes  of  earth. 

ICE   MAN   PUTS  OUT   THE  FIRE 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  forest 
fire,  and  the  fire  went  deep  down  to  the 
roots  of  a  poplar  tree,  and  there  it  smol 
dered  for  a  long  time.  The  people  tried 
to  put  it  out,  but  they  could  do  nothing. 
By  and  by  they  grew  frightened,  fearing 
lest  it  might  burn  down  to  the  middle  of 
the  earth,  or  spread  over  all  the  world. 
So  they  sent  a  messenger  to  the  far  north, 
to  beg  the  Ice  Man  to  help  them. 

Now  the  Ice  Man  is  a  little  fellow,  with 
two  heavy  braids  of  black  hair  hanging 
over  his  shoulders.  After  he  had  heard 
all  about  the  fire,  he  nodded,  and  loosen 
ing  one  braid  he  breathed  upon  the 
strands.  Instantly  the  wind  began  to 
blow.  He  shook  out  the  hair  again, 
and  it  began  to  rain.  When  he  undid 


28  CHEROKEE   TALES 

the  other  braid,  it  hailed  violently,  and 
the  fourth  time  he  blew  upon  his  hair, 
the  storm  became  so  terrific  that  the 
messenger  hastened  homeward. 

When  he  got  home,  he  saw  the  fire  at 
the  roots  of  the  poplar  was  still  burning, 
and  the  pit  looked  deeper  and  wider  than 
ever.  Many  people  were  standing  sadly 
about  it,  and  as  they  stood  there  the 
wind  began  to  blow.  Soon  a  cold  rain  fell 
hissing  on  the  hot  coals.  Then  large  hail 
stones  were  mixed  with  the  rain,  and  before 
long  the  tempest  grew  so  fierce  that  they 
were  forced  to  run  for  shelter.  When  it 
stopped  at  last,  they  came  out  again  to 
look,  and  the  pit  of  fire  was  nothing  but 
black  coals  covered  with  lumps  of  ice. 

THE  ORIGIN   OF   SICKNESS  AND 
MEDICINE 

There  was  a  time  when  man  and  the 
animal  people  were  friends,  and  talked 


CHEROKEE   TALES  29 

the  same  language,  and  even  inter 
married  with  one  another.  Later  on, 
the  human  race  declared  war  upon  the 
animals  and  began  to  kill  them  in  great 
numbers,  using  their  flesh  for  food  and 
their  skins  for  clothing,  so  that  there 
was  great  fear  and  anger  among  them. 
At  last  the  old  White  Bear  chief  called 
all  the  Bears  in  council  to  decide  what 
should  be  done. 

After  much  talk,  it  was  agreed  to  make 
bows  and  arrows  of  their  own  with  which 
to  defend  themselves,  and  one  of  the 
Bears  sacrificed  his  life  to  furnish  sinew 
for  the  bowstring.  When  all  was  ready, 
and  the  Bear  chief  undertook  to  try  the 
new  weapon,  his  long  claws  caught  on 
the  string  so  that  he  could  not  handle  it. 
Some  one  then  proposed  that  they  all 
cut  their  claws,  and  they  were  on  the 
point  of  doing  this  when  the  thought 
occurred  to  another  that  they  would  be 


30  CHEROKEE   TALES 

unable  to  climb  trees  or  seize  their  prey 
if  they  had  no  claws,  and  would  be  in 
danger  of  starving  to  death.  In  the  end, 
the  meeting  broke  up  without  coming  to 
any  decision,  and  Bears  were  hunted 
just  the  same  as  ever. 

The  White  Deer  next  called  all  the 
Deer  together,  and  they  decided  to 
punish  with  rheumatic  pains  every 
hunter  who  should  kill  one  of  their 
number  without  asking  pardon  for  the 
offense.  Ever  since  that  time,  the 
hunters  have  been  very  careful  to  beg 
the  Deer's  pardon  whenever  it  becomes 
necessary  to  shoot  one,  although  now 
and  then  some  one  tries  to  avoid  the 
penalty  by  building  fires  on  his  trail. 

The  other  animals  followed  the  Deer's 
example,  and  each  made  haste  to  invent 
a  disease  with  which  to  torment  the 
human  race.  The  Fish  and  the  Snakes 
threatened  him  with  bad  dreams,  and 


CHEROKEE   TALES  31 

the  little  Grub,  who  was  tired  of  being 
trodden  upon,  heard  them  with  such 
joy  that  he  fell  over  backward  and  has 
never  stood  on  his  feet  since.  Only 
the  Ground  Squirrel  said  modestly  that 
as  man  had  never  done  him  any  harm 
he  had  no  wish  for  revenge,  whereupon 
the  others  were  so  angry  that  they 
scratched  him  severely,  and  he  bears  the 
marks  on  his  back  to  this  day. 

However,  they  reckoned  without  the 
plants,  which  were  friendly  to  man,  and 
promptly  devised  a  remedy  for  each 
disease.  We  should  be  grateful  to  them 
whenever  we  are  made  to  suffer  by  the 
revengeful  spirit  of  the  animals,  for  in 
the  kindly  vegetable  world  we  can  find 
a  cure  for  every  ill. 

THE  FIRST  STRAWBERRY 

It  is  told  that  the  first  man  and  woman 
quarreled,  and  the  woman  left  her  hus- 


32  CHEROKEE   TALES 

band.  He  followed  her  sorrowfully,  but 
she  never  once  looked  back.  At  last 
the  Sun  took  pity  on  the  man. 

"Do  you  still  love  her?"  asked  the 
Sun,  and  the  man  said  he  did,  and  prayed 
to  the  Sun  to  help  him  win  her  back  again. 

Then  the  Sun  caused  all  mariner  of 
delicious  fruits  to  spring  up  in  her  path. 
The  woman  saw  luscious  purple  huckle 
berries,  but  she  went  right  on  over  them. 
A  service  tree  laden  with  sweet  red  fruit 
stood  in  front  of  her,  and  she  passed  it 
by.  Finally  she  came  upon  a  patch  of 
scarlet  strawberries,  the  first  that  ever 
grew,  and  these  she  could  not  resist. 

She  stooped  to  taste  one,  and  at  once 
the  thought  of  her  husband  came  into 
her  mind.  All  the  sweetness  of  their 
love  enfolded  her,  and  she  stood  quite 
still  in  the  strawberry  patch  until  he 
came  up  with  her,  and  embraced  her,  and 
they  went  back  together. 


CHEROKEE   TALES  33 

HOW  THE  TERRAPIN  BEAT  THE  RABBIT 

The  Terrapin  once  challenged  the 
Rabbit  to  a  race,  which  the  latter  re 
garded  as  a  joke. 

"The  Terrapin  is  doubtless  a  wit/7  said 
he,  "and  a  great  warrior  as  well,  but 
every  one  knows  that  he  cannot  run. 
I  shall  give  him  a  big  handicap,  and 
even  then  I  cannot  help  beating  him." 

The  course  lay  over  four  ridges,  and 
the  Rabbit  told  the  Terrapin  to  go  ahead 
to  the  top  of  the  first  ridge,  so  that  when 
the  signal  to  start  was  given  he  was  al 
ready  out  of  sight. 

When  the  Rabbit  reached  the  top  of 
the  first  ridge,  he  was  surprised  to  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  Terrapin  almost  at  the 
top  of  the  second.  He  ran  faster,  and 
as  his  rival  was  soon  hidden  in  the  long 
grass,  he  saw  nothing  more  of  him  till 
he  was  mounting  the  second  ridge,  and 


34  CHEROKEE   TALES 

there  was  the  Terrapin  already  passing 
the  third.  When  the  Rabbit  with  great 
leaps  ascended  the  third  ridge,  behold ! 
the  Terrapin  was  about  to  cross  the 
fourth,  and  the  next  minute  he  had  won 
the  race. 

This  is  the  way  it  was  done.  The 
Terrapin  had  several  friends  who  looked 
exactly  like  himself,  so  he  stationed  one 
of  them  at  the  top  of  each  of  the  first 
three  ridges,  with  orders  to  hide  in  the 
long  grass  as  soon  as  the  Rabbit  came  near. 
He  himself  stayed  at  the  fourth  rise  until 
his  competitor  came  in  sight,  when  he 
crept  over  it  and  so  came  out  ahead. 

HOW  THE  TURKEY  GOT  HIS  BEARD 

Now  the  animals  all  suspected  some 
trick  in  this  case,  and  the  Turkey  in 
particular  was  heard  to  say  that  he  would 
contrive  to  get  even. 

Soon  afterward  he  saw  the  Terrapin 


CHEROKEE  TALES  35 

coming  back  from  war,  creeping  along 
with  a  fresh  scalp  hung  about  his  short 
neck  and  trailing  on  the  ground. 

"How,  my  friend!"  he  exclaimed, 
"you  do  not  wear  your  scalp  right; 
only  let  me  show  you." 

The  Terrapin  let  the  Turkey  take  the 
scalp  and  hang  it  about  his  own  neck, 
while  he  strutted  proudly  to  and  fro. 

"Does  it  not  look  well?"  the  Turkey 
asked. 

"Well  enough,"  the  other  admitted, 
"but  you  may  give  it  back  to  me  now." 

"First  let  me  show  you  another  way 
to  wear  it,"  cried  the  Turkey,  and  he 
adjusted  the  scalp  and  flew  with  it  into 
a  tree  where  the  other  could  not  follow. 
Thus  he  boasts  the  stolen  ornament  to  this 
day. 

HOW  THE  DEER  GOT  HIS  HORNS 

Perhaps  you  never  heard  that  there 
was  once  a  time  when  the  Deer's  head 


36  CHEROKEE   TALES 

was  as  smooth  as  that  of  the  doe,  and 
as  he  and  the  Rabbit  were  both  great 
jumpers  and  proud  of  their  ability,  a 
match  was  arranged,  the  winner  to  re 
ceive  a  fine  pair  of  antlers  as  a  prize. 
They  were  to  start  at  one  side  of  a  dense 
thicket,  and  the  first  one  to  make  his 
way  through  to  the  further  side  and  back 
again  would  be  judged  the  winner. 

Now  the  Rabbit  said  that  he  had 
never  before  been  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  and  he  asked  permission  to  look 
about  a  little,  which  was  agreed  to. 
However,  he  was  gone  so  long  that  they 
suspected  he  might  be  up  to  one  of  his 
tricks,  so  one  of  the  judges  followed  him 
quietly.  There  he  was,  busily  gnawing 
off  branches  and  making  a  road  through 
the  underbrush ! 

When  he  finally  came  out,  he  was  told 
that  on  account  of  his  dishonesty  the 
horns  would  be  given  to  the  Deer,  and 


CHEROKEE   TALES  37 

furthermore,  since  he  was  so  fond  of 
gnawing  at  bushes,  he  might  continue 
to  do  so  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

WHY  THE  DEER'S  TEETH  ARE  BLUNT 

Although  it  was  not  the  Deer's  fault 
that  the  Rabbit  lost  the  prize,  the 
Rabbit  was  greatly  provoked  and  laid  his 
plans  to  get  even.  Cutting  a  stout  grape 
vine  almost  in  two  with  his  teeth,  he  laid 
it  across  the  Deer's  path  and  began  leaping 
back  and  forth,  snapping  at  the  vine. 

"What  are  you  doing  that  for?" 
asked  the  Deer,  when  he  caught  him  at 
this  game. 

"Only  look!  I  can  bite  this  tough 
vine  in  two  with  one  snap  of  my  sharp 
teeth/7  replied  the  Rabbit. 

"Let  me  see  you  do  it,"  the  Deer 
suggested. 

So  the  Rabbit  sprang  at  the  vine  and 
bit  it  in  two,  where  it  was  already  almost 


38  CHEROKEE   TALES 

cut  through.  "  You  cannot  do  anything 
like  that/'  he  declared  proudly. 

"If  you  can  do  it,  I  am  sure  I  can," 
the  Deer  insisted,  and  the  Rabbit  made 
haste  to  drag  forward  a  heavy  vine. 
The  Deer  leaped  at  it  and  tried  to  bite 
it  as  the  other  had  done,  but  caught  his 
heels  and  fell  headlong.  Again  and 
again  he  tried  without  success. 

"My  friend,"  put  in  the  Rabbit,  who 
had  been  looking  on  and  pretending  to 
sympathize,  "how  can  you  expect  to 
bite  anything  in  two  with  such  blunt 
teeth  as  you  have?  Just  let  me  file 
them  for  you  a  bit,  and  they  will  soon 
be  as  sharp  as  mine." 

The  Deer  was  hot  and  embarrassed 
and  very  foolishly  gave  his  consent. 
Thereupon  the  sly  Rabbit  got  a  rough 
stone  and  filed  off  the  Deer's  teeth  almost 
down  to  the  gums,  so  that  he  could  not 
bite  off  anything  at  all. 


CHEROKEE   TALES  39 

WHY  THE  POSSUM'S  TAIL  IS  BARE 

A  long  time  ago,  the  Possum  had  a 
fine  bushy  tail  of  which  he  was  very 
proud,  so  much  so  that  he  would  even 
sing  of  it  at  the  dance.  As  the  Rabbit's 
tail  is  short  and  stubby,  he  had  no 
patience  with  such  absurd  vanity,  and 
at  last  he  thought  of  a  way  to  put  a  stop 
to  it. 

There  was  to  be  a  large  council  and 
dance  to  which  all  the  animals  were  in 
vited,  and  Rabbit  stopped  in  on  his  way 
home  to  inquire  whether  Possum  was 
going. 

"I  shall  not  attend  unless  I  can  be 
assured  of  a  good  seat/7  declared  Possum 
with  much  dignity,  "for  I  think  my  tail 
entitles  me  to  so  much,  at  least." 

"  Certainly,  I  will  arrange  that,"  re 
plied  Rabbit,  with  a  great  show  of 
deference,  "and  I  shall  be  glad  if  you 


40  CHEROKEE   TALES 

will  allow  me  to  send  a  barber  to  comb 
and  dress  your  beautiful  tail  so  that  it 
may  appear  to  the  best  advantage." 

On  these  conditions  Possum  agreed  to 
attend  the  dance,  and  the  Cricket,  who 
was  an  expert  barber,  was  sent  to  him 
with  private  instructions.  As  fast  as  he 
combed  and  brushed  the  tail,  he  wrapped 
it  around  with  red  string  to  keep  it 
smooth,  and  no  sooner  had  he  finished 
his  work  than  Possum  hurried  away  in 
good  spirits. 

He  found  the  council  house  crowded, 
but  all  made  room  for  him  at  once,  and 
when  his  turn  came  he  quickly  unwrapped 
his  long  tail  and  took  the  center  of  the 
floor,  waving  it  proudly  as  he  danced. 
He  was  greatly  surprised  to  be  greeted 
with  loud  peals  of  laughter.  He  ven 
tured  to  speak  of  his  tail  in  the  accom 
panying  song,  and  the  people  laughed 
louder  than  ever.  At  last,  looking  down, 


CHEROKEE   TALES  41 

he  discovered  that  the  Cricket,  accord 
ing  to  the  secret  orders  he  had  received, 
had  shaved  that  splendid  tail  to  the  very 
roots,  and  it  has  remained  entirely  bare 
ever  since. 

In  his  great  mortification,  Possum 
rolled  over  on  his  back  helpless,  and  this 
he  still  does  whenever  he  is  taken  by 
surprise. 

THE  OWL  GETS  MARRIED 

There  was  once  a  woman  who  had  a 
marriageable  daughter.  Many  men  came 
wooing,  but  the  mother  told  the  girl 
never  to  accept  any  but  a  skilled  hunter, 
who  would  keep  the  lodge  well  supplied 
with  meat. 

One  evening  the  Owl  called,  in  the 
shape  of  a  handsome  young  man,  and 
asked  the  girl  to  be  his  wife. 

"Are  you  a  good  hunter?'7  she  asked. 

He  said  that  he  was,  and  upon  this 
she  agreed  to  marry  him. 


42  CHEROKEE   TALES 

On  the  day  after  the  wedding,  the 
bridegroom  went  forth  to  hunt,  and  at 
night  he  returned  with  nothing  but  some 
scraps  that  the  hunters  had  thrown 
away.  He  excused  himself  by  saying 
that  he  had  had  bad  luck,  and  the  next 
morning  he  declared  that  he  would  try 
fishing  instead. 

When  at  evening  he  brought  home 
only  a  worthless  minnow  or  two,  the 
old  lady  advised  her  daughter  to  follow 
him  quietly  the  next  time  and  see  what 
he  did.  She  did  so  and  was  horrified  to 
see  her  husband  turn  into  a  great  Owl 
and  fly  to  the  top  of  a  dead  tree,  where 
he  sat  watching  for  some  small  fish  that 
might  be  dropped  by  a  Hawk  or  an 
Eagle. 

She  went  home  in  disgust,  and  presently 
he  returned  with  a  story  of  an  Owl  which 
has  driven  away  his  game. 

"I  think  you  are  the  Owl,"  declared 


CHEROKEE   TALES  43 

the  young  woman,  and  she  turned  him 
out  of  doors. 

The  poor  Owl  went  off  by  himself  and 
pined  away  till  he  lost  all  his  flesh,  and  is 
now  nothing  more  than  a  big  head  and  a 
bundle  of  feathers. 

THE  STARS  AND  THE  PINE 

Once  there  were  seven  little  boys  who 
spent  most  of  their  time  down  at  the 
town  house,  playing  a  game  with  wheel- 
shaped  stones  and  a  curved  stick  like 
a  hockey-stick.  Their  mothers  thought 
they  played  too  much,  and  one  day, 
when  they  were  boiling  the  corn  for 
dinner,  they  put  some  round  stones  in 
the  pot  and  served  these  to  the  little 
boys  instead  of  corn. 

This  made  the  boys  angry,  and  in 
stead  of  staying  at  home  they  went  right 
back  to  the  town  house  and  began  to 
dance.  Round  and  round  they  went, 


44  CHEROKEE   TALES 

faster  and  faster,  until  their  feet  came 
quite  off  the  ground,  and  they  were 
dancing  on  air.  When  their  mothers 
came  to  look  for  them,  they  were  already 
out  of  reach. 

The  mothers  screamed,  and  one  caught 
up  a  game  stick  and  contrived  to  pull 
her  son  down,  but  the  other  six  went 
straight  up  into  the  sky ;  and  there  they 
are  now,  as  the  six  bright  stars  named 
Pleiades,  which  the  Cherokees  call  "The 
Boys." 

As  for  the  seventh  little  boy,  he  struck 
the  ground  with  such  force  that  he  sank 
in  and  was  seen  no  more.  His  wretched 
mother  watered  the  spot  every  day  with 
her  tears,  and  after  a  long  time  there 
sprang  up  a  slender  shoot  of  green  which 
grew  into  a  pine  tree.  This  was  the 
very  first  pine.  Perhaps  you  did  not 
know  that  the  Pine  has  a  heart  of  flame 
and  is  a  brother  to  the  Stars. 


THE  STARS  AND  THE  PINE 

One  contrived  to  pull  her  son  down,  but  the  other  six  went  up  into  the  sky. 

Page  44. 


CHEROKEE   TALES  45 

THE  MAN  WHO  MARRIED  THE 
THUNDER'S  SISTER 

A  certain  young  man  went  to  a  dance 
one  evening  and  met  there  two  strange 
young  women,  both  of  whom  had  the 
longest  and  handsomest  hair  he  had  ever 
seen.  He  looked  at  them  a  great  deal 
from  a  distance  and  finally  spoke  to 
them,  and  before  the  dance  broke  up 
he  had  asked  the  younger  and  prettier 
of  the  two  sisters  to  be  his  wife. 

In  reply  she  told  him  to  fast  for  seven 
days  and  she  would  meet  him  again  at 
the  same  place. 

The  young  man  was  so  deeply  in  love 
that  he  gladly  accepted  the  hard  con 
dition,  and  after  going  without  any  food 
for  the  prescribed  time,  he  went  to 
another  dance.  There  he  met  again 
the  two  sisters  with  the  beautiful  long 
hair.  When  it  was  time  to  leave,  the 
younger  one  said  that  he  might  follow 


46  CHEROKEE   TALES 

her,  but  she  warned  him  that  if  he  ever 
told  where  he  went  or  what  he  saw,  he 
would  surely  die. 

They  all  went  along  a  footpath  until 
they  came  to  a  small  brook,  when  the 
two  girls  stepped  quietly  into  the  water 
and  continued  on  their  way.  The  young 
man  hesitated  at  first,  but  when  his 
sweetheart  turned  her  head  and  beckoned 
he  stepped  boldly  in,  and  it  was  as  if 
he  were  walking  in  deep,  soft  grass. 

Presently  the  brook  ran  into  a  wide 
and  deep  river,  and  now  he  stopped 
short,  for  he  was  afraid  of  being  drowned. 

"Oh,"  said  the.  girl,  "that  is  only  the 
road  to  our  home!"  So  in  he  plunged, 
and  he  did  not  seem  to  be  in  the  water 
at  all  but  in  the  long  meadow  grass. 

The  girls  led  him  to  a  cave  under  a 
great  rock  and  offered  him  a  seat,  but 
when  he  looked  at  the  seat  he  saw  that 
it  was  an  immense  live  turtle.  He  said 


CHEROKEE    TALES  47 

then  that  he  would  rather  stand.  But 
what  surprised  him  most  was  to  see 
both  young  women  take  off  their  lovely 
hair  and  hang  it  up  beside  the  doorway, 
leaving  their  heads  quite  bare. 

Soon  there  came  a  loud  clap  of  thunder, 
and  directly  after  a  flash  of  lightning 
that  disclosed  a  tall  man  entering  the 
cave.  This  was  the  brother  of  the  girls, 
and  his  name  was  Thunder.  He  in 
vited  the  youth  to  ride  with  him  and 
offered  him  a  horse  which  turned  out  to 
be  a  large  water  snake.  The  young  man 
refused  the  invitation,  for  he  had  become 
a  good  deal  frightened  and  decided  that 
he  would  rather  go  home. 

There  came  another  frightful  peal  and 
a  dazzling  flash,  and  the  next  thing  he 
knew  he  was  lying  on  the  river  bank 
with  his  feet  in  the  water.  He  reached 
his  home  safely,  but  he  could  not  resist 
telling  his  friends  about  his  wonderful 


48  CHEROKEE    TALES 

experience;  therefore  within  three  days 
he  died,  for  no  one  may  tell  of  a  visit 
to  the  underworld  and  live. 

THE  ENCHANTED  LAKE 

In  the  depths  of  the  Great  Smoky 
Mountains  there  lies  a  hidden  lake  which 
no  human  eye  has  ever  seen.  The 
hunters  know  where  it  must  be,  for 
sometimes  one  has  come  near  enough  to 
scent  its  freshness,  and  to  hear  the  rustle 
of  thousands  of  wings  as  the  ducks  rise 
in  great  clouds  from  its  cool,  green  depths. 
Yet  when  he  approaches,  he  perceives 
only  a  dry  hollow  in  the  heart  of  the 
woods. 

All  the  creatures  know  this  lake ;  it 
is  their  City  of  Refuge ;  mortal  eye  can 
not  find  them  there,  and  when  one  of 
them  is  wounded,  he  has  only  to  plunge 
into  its  mysterious  waters,  and  he  comes 
out  whole. 


CHEROKEE    TALES  49 

THE  BEAR-MAN 

A  hunter  once  trailed  a  bear  and  shot 
many  arrows  into  its  body,  but  to  his 
surprise  they  seemed  to  make  no  im 
pression.  Finally  the  bear  stopped, 
pulled  out  the  arrows,  and  turning  to 
the  man,  he  handed  them  back  to  him, 
saying  pleasantly : 

"You  see  it  is  no  use  —  you  can't  kill 
me.  Better  give  it  up  and  come  home 
with  me  instead!" 

The  hunter  was  curious  and  followed 
the  bear  to  his  den,  where  he  slept 
all  winter,  gradually  growing  thick 
black  hair  over  his  whole  body.  When 
spring  came,  he  was  wakened  by  the 
shouts  of  his  friends  as  they  surrounded 
the  den. 

Not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  he  went 
forth  to  meet  them,  looking  like  a  bear, 
but  walking  upright  like  a  man.  He 


50  CHEROKEE   TALES 

spoke  to  them,  and  they  knew  his  voice 
and  spared  his  life. 

"You  have  done  wrong/'  said  they, 
"and  we  cannot  allow  you  to  remain 
here.  Come  back  with  us  —  your  poor 
wife  mourns  for  you  as  for  one  dead !" 

"I  wish  for  nothing  but  to  come  back/' 
the  Bear  Man  declared.  "Tell  her,  how 
ever,  that  for  seven  days  I  must  neither 
eat  nor  speak.  That  will  break  the 
charm,  and  I  shall  be  once  more  a  man ! 
Otherwise  I  must  die." 

Accordingly  he  betook  himself  to  a 
solitary  teepee  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
village,  and  there  continued  his  fast.  His 
wife  was  told  that  he  still  lived,  and  was 
overcome  with  joy.  Five  days  she  waited 
for  him  to  come  to  her,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  fifth  day  she  could  wait  no  longer. 
She  went  to  him,  threw  herself  into  his 
arms,  and  compelled  him  to  answer  her 
questions,  thus  causing  his  death. 


CHOCTAW  STORIES 


CHOCTAW  STORIES 
WHY  POSSUM  HAS  A  LARGE  MOUTH 

THERE  had  been  a  long  dry  season, 
and  the  Deer  had  grown  very 
thin.  Meeting  Possum  one  day, 
he  could  not  help  noticing  how  well-fed 
and  contented  the  other  appeared. 

"How  is  it  that  you  are  so  fat  in  a  time 
of  drouth  and  famine?77  inquired  the 
Deer,  whose  skin  hung  loosely  upon  a 
rack  of  bones. 

"It  is  simple  enough/7  replied  the 
Possum.  "I  live  upon  persimmons.77 

"But  how  do  you  reach  them?77  per 
sisted  the  Deer.  "It  seems  to  me  they 
hang  very  high.77 

"Oh,  that  is  easy,77  declared  Possum, 
who  is  fond  of  a  joke.  "I  go  to  the  top 


54  CHOCTAW   STORIES 

of  yonder  hill,  run  down  very  fast  and 
hit  the  tree  with  my  head  just  as  hard  as 
I  can.  That  shakes  off  the  fruit.  Then 
I  have  only  to  sit  on  the  ground  and  eat 
and  eat  till  I  can  eat  no  more." 

"It  sounds  easy,  to  be  sure/'  agreed 
the  Deer,  who  was  hungry  enough  to 
try  anything.  He  went  to  the  very  top 
of  the  hill,  rushed  down  violently,  and 
struck  the  tree  with  such  force  that  he 
was  killed  instantly.  At  this  the  wicked 
Possum  laughed  so  hard  that  it  stretched 
his  mouth,  which  has  remained  wide  to  this 
day. 

THE  GOOD  LITTLE  SPIRIT 

Perhaps  you  have  wondered  why  some 
men  are  wise  and  do  good,  while  others 
in  their  ignorance  do  nothing  but  harm. 
If  so,  I  will  tell  you  a  secret. 

In  a  cave  not  far  from  the  homes  of 
men  there  dwells  a  good  little  spirit.  He 
is  very  old,  his  hair  is  long  and  white, 


THE  GOOD  LITTLE  SPIRIT 

He  makes  it  choose  one  of  three  gifts. 
Page  55. 


CHOCTAW   STORIES  55 

and  he  is  about  as  tall  as  a  child  three 
years  old. 

Now  every  child,  when  it  reaches  the 
age  of  three  or  four,  sometimes  wanders 
away  out  of  sight  of  home,  and  the  spirit 
is  constantly  on  the  watch  for  this  to 
happen.  He  comes  out  of  hiding,  takes 
the  little  one  by  the  hand  and  leads  it 
away  to  his  cave.  There  he  makes  it 
choose  one  of  three  gifts :  a  knife,  a 
bunch  of  poisonous  flowers,  and  a  hand 
ful  of  healing  herbs. 

If  the  child  takes  the  knife,  he  will  do 
only  harm  all  his  days.  If  he  is  misled 
by  the  beauty  of  the  poisonous  blossoms, 
he  will  never  be  wise ;  but  if  he  takes  the 
good  medicine,  he  will  be  a  wise  man 
and  a  healer,  who^,  will  bless  and  help  his 

people. 

FOLLOWERS  OF  THE  SUN 

There  were  once  four  brothers,  who  as 
soon  as  they  noticed  that  the  sun  rose 


56  CHOCTAW   STORIES 

in  one  quarter  and  set  in  another,  made 
up  their  minds  to  follow  on  to  the  place 
of  his  setting.  They  were  very  young 
when  they  set  out  toward  the  west,  and 
as  the  years  passed  they  grew  to  be  tall 
youths,  then  strong  men  in  their  prime, 
yet  they  could  never  overtake  the  Sun. 

Old  age  had  begun  to  creep  upon  the 
travelers  when  at  last  they  reached  the 
shores  of  the  Everywhere  Salt  Water 
(the  ocean).  Behind  its  shining  rim  the 
golden  ball  descended,  and  they  were 
given  power  to  follow,  and  where  sky 
and  water  met  to  reach  their  journey's 
end. 

"Why  are  you  here  who  have  not  yet 
died?"  asked  the  Sun. 

"We  have  done  nothing  but  follow 
you  all  our  lives,"  replied  the  brothers. 

"Only  the  dead  come  here,"  the  Sun 
insisted.  "You  will  have  to  go  back." 

He  sent  them  each  home  on  the  wings 


CHOCTAW   STORIES  57 

of  a  buzzard,  and  thus  returned  to  their 
amazed  people  four  feeble  old  men,  who 
had  been  where  no  mortal  ever  went 
before.  When  they  had  told  all  their 
strange  story,  they  lay  down  and  died, 
and  so  returned  to  the  glories  of  heaven, 
which  they  alone  of  all  men  had  seen 
before  their  time. 

THE  HUNTER  WHO  BECAME  A  DEER 

A  hunter  who  had  traveled  all  day 
without  finding  any  game  shot  a  doe  near 
sunset,  and  as  he  was  very  tired,  he  lay 
down  near  the  body  and  went  to  sleep. 

In  the  morning,  when  he  awoke,  he 
perceived  the  doe  looking  at  him  lovingly 
out  of  large,  soft  eyes.  As  he  returned 
her  gaze,  she  astonished  him  yet  more 
by  speaking. 

"Will  you  come  home  with  me?" 
she  pleaded. 

The  young  man  hesitated,  but  there 


58  CHOCTAW   STORIES 

was  something  strangely  appealing  about 
this  beautiful  woman,  as  she  now  seemed 
to  him  to  become.  Almost  without 
knowing  what  he  did,  he  arose  and  fol 
lowed  her. 

By  and  by,  they  came  to  a  great  cave 
under  the  mountain,  where  it  seemed 
that  all  the  Deer  lived  with  their  chief, 
an  immense  buck  with  powerful  antlers. 
The  hunter  was  hospitably  received; 
but  all  along  the  sides  of  the  cave  he 
noticed  piles  of  deer  hides,  with  hoofs 
and  horns.  This  puzzled  him  not  a 
little;  nevertheless  he  ate  with  them, 
lay  down  among  them,  and  presently 
slept. 

Now  while  the  young  man  slept,  the 
Deer  tried  skin  after  skin  till  they  found 
one  which  fitted  him,  and  they  also 
fitted  a  pair  of  antlers  to  his  head  and 
hoofs  to  his  hands  and  feet.  In  the 
morning,  he  opened  his  eyes  and  per- 


CHOCTAW   STORIES  59 

ceived  that  he  also  was  a  Deer,  and  he 
remained  with  the  herd. 

In  the  meantime,  his  mother  and  his 
relatives  continued  to  search  for  him 
throughout  the  forest.  After  some 
weeks,  they  discovered  the  lost  one's 
bow  and  arrows,  hanging  on  the  branch 
of  the  tree  under  which  he  had  slept  after 
shooting  the  doe.  They  all  gathered  on 
the  spot  and  began  to  sing  songs  of  magic. 

Soon  a  herd  of  deer  appeared  in  the 
distance,  coming  nearer  and  nearer  as 
they  were  drawn  by  the  singing.  At 
last  one  spoke,  and  immediately  they 
knew  his  voice  for  that  of  the  missing 
hunter.  His  mother  cried  bitterly,  and 
insisted  that  they  should  take  off  the 
deer's  hide  from  her  son  and  restore  him 
to  his  own  shape  again. 

"We  dare  not/'  protested  his  brothers 
and  his  cousins.  "It  might  endanger 
his  life!" 


60  CHOCTAW   STORIES 

"Even  so,"  she  replied,  weeping,  "I 
had  rather  see  my  son  dead  than  wear 
ing  the  form  of  a  beast ! " 

When  they  began  to  tear  off  the  deer's 
hide,  behold!  it  had  grown  fast  to  his 
own  skin,  and  he  began  to  bleed. 

"Go  on!  go  on!"  exclaimed  the 
mother  in  agony,  and  they  persisted 
until  the  man  died.  Then  at  last  they 
carried  home  his  body  and  gave  it 
honorable  burial. 

PRETTY  WOMAN 

Once  in  time  of  famine  there  were 
two  children  deserted  by  their  parents, 
because  they  could  not  find  food  enough 
for  all.  The  boy  and  girl  were  perish 
ing  of  hunger  when  they  were  discovered 
wandering  in  the  wood  by  Old  Crow 
Woman.  The  kind  old  body  took  them 
to  her  poor  teepee  and  went  out  to  search 
for  something  to  eat. 


CHOCTAW   STORIES  61 

While  she  was  gone,  the  girl,  who  was 
very  clever,  picked  four  grains  of  corn 
out  of  the  dust  and  tossed  them  into  the 
air.  In  this  way  each  grain  became  a 
fine  full  ear,  which  they  roasted  and  ate. 
She  then  threw  up  the  small  skin  tent, 
and  it  came  down  large  and  beautiful. 
She  took  her  little  brother  in  her  arms 
and  threw  him  up,  and  he  was  a  tall 
youth.  Finally  she  said  to  him: 
" Brother,  throw  me  up,  too!"  and  he 
did  as  she  asked. 

The  half-starved  little  girl  came  down 
again  a  remarkably  pretty  woman,  and 
when  Old  Crow  returned  with  a  few 
grains  of  corn  in  her  beak,  she  was 
astonished  to  find  so  beautiful  a  girl 
sitting  and  making  moccasins  before  the 
largest  and  handsomest  lodge  she  had 
ever  seen. 

When  the  Mole  poked  his  long  nose 
through  the  earth  to  look  at  Pretty 


62  CHOCTAW   STORIES 

Woman,  she  ordered  him  back,  saying, 
" I  am  not  the  light." 

Three  times  the  Hummingbird  circled 
round  her  head  with  buzzing  wings,  but 
she  drove  him  away.  "I  am  not  a 
flower,"  said  she.  He  went  home  and 
told  all  the  people  that  he  had  seen  the 
most  beautiful  woman  in  the  world,  and 
the  woods  were  soon  full  of  suitors. 

Since  Old  Crow  Woman  was  the  girPs 
chaperon,  they  all  appealed  to  her.  One 
said:  "I  will  lay  down  the  richest  of 
bear  skins  for  her  to  walk  on,  all  the 
way  to  my  village." 

"That  will  never  do,"  replied  the  old 
woman.  "She  might  slip  on  the  skins 
and  hurt  herself." 

The  second  lover  offered  to  lay  down 
a  line  of  mortars  all  the  way.  "You 
must  not  do  that,"  said  Old  Crow. 
"The  mortars  might  roll  and  trip  her 
up." 


CHOCTAW   STORIES  63 

The  third  man  declared:  "My  people 
shall  lie  down  on  the  ground,  and  she 
may  tread  upon  them  as  she  comes  to 
me  a  bride  I" 

To  this  the  old  woman  made  no  ob 
jection,  and  Pretty  Woman  walked  all 
the  way  to  her  future  home  upon  the 
bodies  of  the  people. 

THE  CRANE  AND  THE  HUMMINGBIRD 

Once  there  was  a  beautiful  girl  who 
had  many  suitors,  and  among  the  most 
persistent  were  the  Crane  and  the  Hum 
mingbird.  She  rather  fancied  the  latter, 
since  the  Crane  was  a  long-legged,  awk 
ward  fellow,  not  at  all  to  her  taste.  In 
order  to  rid  herself  of  his  pretensions 
once  and  for  all,  she  told  them  that  they 
might  fly  round  the  world,  and  the  first 
one  to  return  should  be  her  husband. 
As  the  Hummingbird  is  very  swift,  she 
had  no  doubt  of  the  result. 


64  CHOCTAW   STORIES 

At  the  end  of  the  first  day,  he  had 
indeed  a  long  start.  Well  pleased,  he 
tucked  his  head  under  his  wing  and 
went  to  sleep.  About  midnight,  the 
Crane  overtook  him  and  flew  on.  The 
Hummingbird  passed  him  at  breakfast 
time  and  again  secured  a  long  lead.  But 
in  the  night  time,  while  he  slept,  the  un 
wearied  Crane  flew  on,  each  night  over 
taking  him  earlier,  till  he  had  gained  a 
whole  day  and  won  the  race. 

After  all,  he  did  not  win  a  wife,  for 
the  maiden  was  so  much  chagrined  by 
the  failure  of  her  plan  that  she  has  stayed 
single  to  this  day. 


IROQUOIS  TALES 


IROQUOIS  TALES 

THE  THUNDERERS 

THERE  were  once  three  comrades 
who  went  upon  the  warpath, 
and  when  they  were  a  long  way 
from  home,  one  had  the  misfortune  to 
fall  and  break  his  leg.  The  other  two 
made  a  litter  in  which  they  undertook 
to  carry  him,  but  there  was  a  ridge  of 
high  mountains  to  cross,  and  the  way 
grew  very  painful  and  difficult.  At  last 
they  became  discouraged,  set  the  litter 
down,  went  a  little  aside  and  consulted 
together  in  whispers. 

By  and  by  they  took  up  their  burden 
again,  and  coming  to  a  deep  crevasse 
they  let  it  fall  as  if  by  accident,  so  that 


68  IROQUOIS  TALES 

the  injured  man  rolled  into  the  abyss. 
They  went  home  and  reported  that  they 
had  met  the  enemy  and  that  their  com 
rade  had  died  of  his  wounds.  To  con 
sole  his  weeping  wife,  they  assured  her 
that  he  had  fought  bravely;  also  that 
they  had  tended  and  cared  for  him  until 
he  died  and  had  then  given  him  suitable 
burial. 

In  the  meantime,  the  abandoned  one 
fell  to  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  where  to 
his  surprise  he  beheld  a  very  old  man 
sitting  with  his  hands  clasped  about  his 
withered  knees. 

"What  is  this?"  inquired  the  old  sage. 
"Is  it  possible  that  your  comrades  have 
deserted  you  and  left  you  to  perish 
miserably?" 

"It  seems  that  they  have  done  so," 
calmly  replied  the  youth. 

"You  may  live,  nevertheless,"  the 
other  promised,  "if  you  will  agree  to 


IROQUOIS   TALES  69 

my  conditions.  I  am  now  too  old  to 
hunt.  Stay  here  and  keep  me  supplied 
with  game  as  long  as  I  live,  and  I  will 
cure  your  leg." 

As  the  young  man  had  no  choice,  he 
agreed  without  hesitation,  and  the  ancient 
bound  up  his  limb  with  healing  herbs, 
fed  and  tended  him  until  he  was  able  to 
hunt. 

There  was  game  in  abundance  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  the  old  man 
told  him  that  if  ever  he  shot  more  than 
he  could  carry,  he  should  call  out  and  he 
would  come  to_his  assistance.  One  day 
the  hunter  succeeded  in  killing  an  immense 
bear,  and  while  he  was  skinning  it,  be 
hold  !  three  very  tall  strangers  clad  in 
garments  of  cloud  appeared  close  by. 

"We  are  the  Thunderers,"  said  they. 
"We  should  be  glad  to  help  you,  for  you 
have  not  deserved  your  misfortunes. 
That  old  man  for  whom  you  hunt  is 


70  IROQUOIS   TALES 

not  what  he  seems  to  be.  Call  him, 
and  you  shall  see!" 

Since  the  youth  saw  no  harm  in  call 
ing  his  benefactor  to  help  him  with  the 
game,  he  did  as  they  advised,  and  the 
aged  man  climbed  out  of  the  pit  very 
cautiously,  first  calling  aloud  to  inquire 
if  there  were  any  cloud  in  the  sky. 

"  There  is  none,"  replied  the  hunter, 
and  the  other  hobbled  forward,  con 
tinually  peering  into  the  heavens  as  if 
in  fear  of  some  enemy.  Suddenly  a 
rumble  of  thunder  was  heard,  and  im 
mediately  he  turned  and  fled  in  the  form 
of  a  Porcupine,  throwing  back  sharp 
quills  like  arrows  as  he  ran.  Louder 
and  louder  pealed  the  thunder,  and  just 
as  he  reached  the  edge  of  the  pit  a  bolt 
of  lightning  struck  the  Porcupine,  and 
he  fell  dead  into  his  den. 

After  this  the  young  man  returned  to 
his  own  people. 


IROQUOIS   TALES  71 

THE  WINGED  HUNTER 

A  lone  hunter  had  spent  all  of  his 
arrows,  and  was  at  a  loss.  He  was  a 
long  way  from  home.  Upon  the  lake 
were  many  wild  geese,  but  how  was  he 
to  kill  them?  Finally  he  swam  under 
neath  the  flock,  caught  several  by  the 
feet,  and  tied  them  to  his  belt  with 
withes  of  basswood  bark.  When  the 
geese  flew  up  into  the  air,  they  carried 
the  hunter  with  them. 

Now  he  planned  to  loosen  one  or  two 
of  the  birds  so  that  he  might  sink  gradu 
ally  to  the  ground,  but  the  rest  broke 
loose  suddenly,  and  he  fell  into  a  tall, 
hollow  stump  where  he  remained  a  pris 
oner.  To  be  sure,  it  was  only  a  day  or 
two  before  some  women  came  near  after 
wood,  but  his  cries  frightened  them,  so 
that  they  retreated.  Later  they  re 
turned  with  their  men  and  released  him. 


72  IROQUOIS  TALES 

Immediately  the  hunter  made  new 
arrows  with  which  he  killed  both  deer 
and  bears,  extracting  oil  from  the  latter 
which  he  kept  in  leathern  bottles.  He 
now  wished  to  return  home ;  but  since 
he  had  tried  flying,  walking  seemed  to 
him  too  laborious.  After  much  thought, 
he  made  himself  a  pair  of  wings  out  of 
a  thin  piece  of  tanned  deerskin,  and  flew 
homeward,  carrying  the  bottles  for  bal 
last,  and  letting  fall  one  or  two  into  the 
wigwams  of  the  women  who  had  set 
him  free. 

GREAT  HEAD 

High  up  on  an  inaccessible  cliff,  there 
dwells  an  immense  Head,  very  fierce, 
with  long,  bushy  hair  and  huge  staring 
eyes.  The  people  call  it  the  Great  Head, 
and  fear  it  very  much. 

There  was  once  a  family  of  ten  boys 
who  lost  their  parents  at  about  the  same 
time  of  a  mysterious  disease.  As  they 


IROQUOIS   TALES  73 

knew  no  near  relatives,  the  brothers 
continued  to  live  alone  in  the  forest. 
However,  one  day  the  eldest  failed  to 
return  from  the  hunt,  and  in  the  morning 
the  second  brother  went  to  look  for  him. 
That  night  he,  too,  was  missing.  On 
the  next  day,  the  third  brother  set  out 
to  search  for  the  others,  and  so  on  until 
only  one  of  the  ten  was  left. 

Now  the  youngest  brother  had  scarcely 
started  on  their  trail  when  he  stumbled 
over  a  queer  little  old  man,  half  buried 
in  the  ground,  and  entirely  covered  with 
green  mold. 

When  he  had  dug  him  out  and  revived 
him  by  rubbing  him  with  oil,  the  boy  told 
the  stranger  his  story. 

"I  can  tell  you  what  has  become 
of  your  brothers/'  exclaimed  the  little 
old  man.  "  Without  doubt,  it  is  my 
brother,  Great  Head,  who  has  enticed 
them  away." 


74  IROQUOIS   TALES 

"What!  the  Great  Head  is  your 
brother?"  asked  the  boy. 

"Yes,  he  is,"  replied  the  little  old  man. 

"Then  you  must  know  his  ways  and 
can  help  me  to  outwit  him." 

"I  can  tell  you  what  he  eats.  Huge 
billets  of  maple  wood  —  only  maple  — 
are  his  favorite  tid-bit." 

"And  is  there  anything  he  is  afraid 
of?"  the  boy  inquired. 

"He  fears  my  arrows,  which  grow  ever 
larger  as  they  fly!" 

First  the  boy  worked  very  hard  chop* 
ping  a  great  maple  tree  into  blocks; 
then  he  invited  Great  Head  to  a  feast. 
But  Great  Head  would  not  come. 

Then  the  little  man,  his  brother,  crept 
slyly  to  the  foot  of  the  cliff  through  the 
long  grass,  and  sent  forth  a  magic  arrow, 
which  grew  larger  and  larger  as  it  sped 
toward  the  mark.  A  great  noise  arose, 
like  that  of  a  hurricane  rushing  through 


IROQUOIS  TALES  75 

a  forest.  Down  tumbled  Great  Head  to 
the  foot  of  the  precipice,  and  the  nine 
youths  whom  he  had  held  captive  were 
freed  from  the  spell,  and  came  joyfully 
home  again.  , 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES 
HOW  THE  DAYLIGHT  CAME 

ALONG,  long  time  ago  the  son  of 
the  first  chief  of  the  animal 
people  set  out  upon  a  journey. 
Dressed  in  the  skin  of  a  raven,  and 
carrying  in  his  beak  a  magic  bag  which 
his  father  had  given  him,  he  flew  east 
ward  over  a  dark  and  watery  waste. 
When  he  had  flown  far  and  was  tired, 
he  dropped  a  stone  in  the  sea,  and 
it  became  an  island,  upon  which  he 
rested. 

Again  he  rose  up  and  flew  onward  upon 
slow  black  wings,  no  blacker  than  the 
gloom  that  covered  the  face  of  the  world. 
As  he  skimmed  the  surface  of  the  waves, 


80  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

he  scattered  from  his  enchanted  bag 
the  spawn  of  every  kind  of  fish,  so  that 
the  sea  was  filled  with  finny  life.  Then 
he  turned  toward  shore,  and  over  the 
dry  land  he  cast  berries  and  seeds  of  all 
plants  that  are  good  for  food,  so  that 
the  earth  too  was  ready  to  burst  with 
fruitfulness,  only  there  was  no  sun  to 
warm  it  into  life. 

Raven  became  very  tired  of  the  eter 
nal  darkness,  and  at  last  he  flew  straight 
upward  until  he  found  the  hole  in  the 
sky,  and  went  right  through  the  hole. 
There  he  left  the  raven's  skin  lying  and 
flew  on  till  he  came  to  a  spring  of  clear 
water,  bubbling  up  with  a  sound  like 
maidens'  laughter  near  the  wigwam  of 
the  Chief  of  Heaven.  He  turned  him 
self  into  a  leaf  and  floated  in  the  pool, 
waiting  for  the  chief's  daughter.  When 
she  came,  she  was  indeed  very  beau 
tiful.  Stooping,  she  dipped  up  the  leaf 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  81 

in  her  bucket  and  drank  it  with  the 
water. 

Now  the  maiden  returned  to  her  home, 
and  not  long  after  a  child  was  born  to 
her.  The  baby  grew  very  fast.  He  was 
stronger  than  any  child  ever  seen,  yet 
he  cried  continually.  Soon  he  was  creep 
ing  about  the  floor  and  crying  all  the 
time  in  a  loud  voice.  The  wise  old  men 
were  called  in  to  explain  these  cries,  and 
the  wisest  one  of  all  told  the  princess 
that  her  son  was  crying  for  a  large  box 
that  hung  under  the  roof.  This  was 
the  box  that  held  the  daylight. 

Since  nothing  else  would  do,  they  took 
down  the  box  and  gave  it  to  the  child 
to  play  with.  For  four  days  he  rolled 
it  about  the  floor;  then  one  day,  when 
no  one  was  looking,  he  lifted  it  to  his 
shoulders,  got  to  his  feet,  and  ran  out 
of  the  door  with  it.  He  sped  as  fast  as 
he  could  to  the  hole  in  the  sky,  put  on 


82  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

the  raven's  skin  that  he  found  lying 
there,  and  flew  down  to  earth  with  the 
precious  box. 

Now  the  Frog  people  were  fishing  down 
there,  and  they  made  a  great  noise  and 
confusion  in  the  darkness.  Raven  called 
upon  them  to  be  silent,  but  they  paid 
no  attention  to  him.  The  big  frogs 
were  bellowing  very  loud,  and  the  little 
frogs  were  piping  high  and  shrill,  and 
there  was  no  peace  or  quiet  anywhere. 
Raven  told  them  twice  to  be  less  noisy, 
and  when  they  would  not,  he  said,  "Then 
I  shall  open  the  box." 

So  he  opened  it,  and  daylight  over 
spread  the  earth. 

THE  OLD  WOMAN  AND  THE  TIDES 

Again  Raven  flew  over  the  waters 
till  he  reached  the  mainland  and  the 
wigwam  of  the  old,  old  woman  who 
holds  the  tide  lines  in  her  hand.  At  that 


THE  OLD  WOMAN  AND  THE  TIDES 

He  rudely  pushed  her  backward  until  she  fell  down. 

Page  83. 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  83 

time  the  tide  would  remain  high  for 
many  days  at  a  time,  so  that  the  people 
could  get  no  clams  or  other  sea  food. 
It  happened  that  Raven  was  very  hun 
gry  for  clams,  but  he  entered  the  hut 
and  sat  down,  saying  pleasantly : 

"Good  day,  grandmother  :  there  is  fine 
digging  to-day.  I  have  just  had  all  the 
clams  I  could  eat." 

"  Nonsense ! "  exclaimed  the  old  woman. 
"What  are  you  talking  about,  Raven? 
You  know  very  well  that  the  clams  are 
all  covered." 

"Yes,  but  I've  had  all  the  clams  I 
want,"  he  insisted. 

"That  isn't  so,"  she  declared. 

Upon  this  he  rudely  pushed  her  back 
ward  until  she  fell  down,  and  her  mouth 
and  eyes  were  filled  with  dust.  Of 
course  she  was  forced  to  let  go  the  tide 
lines,  so  that  the  tide  ran  quickly  out, 
and  the  beach  was  covered  with  fine 


84  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

fat  clams  and  other  shellfish.  Raven 
did  not  come  back  to  the  hut  until 
he  had  Beaten  as  many  as  he  possibly 
could. 

"My  eyes  are  blinded  with  dust," 
mourned  the  old  woman.  "Will  you 
not  give  me  back  my  sight?" 

"I  will,  if  you  will  promise  to  slacken 
the  tide  lines  twice  a  day,"  he  replied. 

So  she  said  that  she  would,  and  from 
that  time  to  this  the  tides  have  run  in 
and  out  twice  each  day. 

HOW  THE  FIRE  WAS  BROUGHT 

After  a  time,  Raven  saw  that  the 
people  were  discontented  without  fire, 
for  they  could  neither  cook  their  food 
nor  warm  themselves  when  it  was  cold. 
He  remembered  that  they  had  fire  at 
home  in  his  father's  village,  so  he  flew 
westward  once  more  until  he  came  to 
the  wigwams  of  the  animal  people.  But 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  85 

however  hard  he  begged,  they  would 
not  give  him  what  he  had  come  for. 

Raven  made  a  new  plan.  He  went  a 
little  way  off  and  sent  the  Sea  Gull  to 
the  camp  with  this  message : 

"A  handsome  young  chief  will  come 
to  feast  and  dance  in  the  dwelling  of 
your  chief.  See  that  all  is  ready." 

He  knew  that  the  people  would  pre 
pare  for  their  guest,  so  he  caught  a  Deer 
and  tied  a  bundle  of  pitch-pine  to  its 
tail,  for  at  that  time  the  deer  had  a  long 
tail  like  that  of  the  fox.  He  borrowed 
the  canoe  of  the  Great  Shark,  and  with 
the  Deer  came  in  it  to  the  village. 

As  he  expected,  the  house  of/  his  father 
the  chief  was  full  of  people,  and  there 
was  a  big  fire  made  and  much  feasting 
and  merriment.  All  the  creatures  were 
dancing  and  singing,  and  the  very  birds 
clapped  their  wings  for  joy. 

The  Deer  entered,  leaping  and  danc- 


86  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

ing,  and  his  grace  was  much  admired, 
but  as  he  danced  around  the  fire  he 
swung  his  long  tail  over  it,  and  the  pitch 
blazed  up.  He  ran  out,  sprang  into  the 
sea  and  swam  off,  with  his  lighted  tail 
flaring  above  the  waves  like  a  torch. 
Many  sprang  into  their  canoes  and 
tried  to  follow  him,  but  he  escaped  and 
reached  our  shores  in  safety.  There  he 
struck  a  dead  fir  tree  with  his  blazing 
tail  and  said  to  it : 

"You  shall  burn  as  long  as  the  years 
last!" 

We  should  remember  that  it  is  to  him 
we  owe  the  gift  of  fire,  for  his  tail  was 
burned  off,  and  since  that  day  all  Deer 
have  had  a  short  black  tail. 

RAVEN  AND  THE  CRAB 

Raven  had  been  flying  all  night  over 
the  ocean,  and  he  had  grown  very  hun 
gry  indeed,  but  what  was  there  to  eat? 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  87 

At  sunrise  he  reached  a  sand  spit,  and 
there  sat  a  large  Crab.  Raven  thought 
he  might  be  good  to  eat,  but  he  was  a 
little  timid  about  attacking  him,  so  he 
merely  touched  him  on  the  back,  say 
ing,  "Let  us  have  a  game,  grandfather !" 

"  Certainly  not/7  replied  the  Crab 
gruffly. 

But  Raven  grew  bolder  and  touched 
him  again  and  again,  crying  out  teas- 
ingly,  "Come  on,  let  us  have  a  game, 
grandfather!" 

Presently  the  tide  turned,  and  about 
that  time  the  Crab  grew  angry.  He 
seized  Raven  by  the  leg  and  walked  very 
slowly  into  the  water  with  him. 

"Dear  grandfather,  only  let  me  go!" 
begged  Raven,  for  he  was  terribly 
frightened. 

Crab  paid  no  attention  to  his  prayers 
and  cries,  but  walked  on  the  bottom  of 
the  sea  until  he  felt  sure  that  his  enemy 


88  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

was  dead,  when  he  let  go  of  him,  and 
Raven  came  up  and  floated  lifeless  on 
the  top  of  the  waves. 

A  light  wind  wafted  him  ashore,  and 
he  lay  for  a  long  time  motionless  on  the 
warm  sand.  At  last  the  sun  revived 
him,  and  he  awoke.  He  looked  at  his 
raven  skin  and  saw  that  it  was  sadly 
draggled  and  some  of  the  feathers  had 
come  off,  but  he  was  so  thankful  to  be 
alive  that  he  only  said  to  himself,  "  After 
all,  I  have  not  done  so  badly !" 

THE  BEAUTIFUL  BLANKET 

Not  long  after  this,  Raven  grew  tired 
of  the  jet-black  robe  that  his  father  had 
given  him,  and  one  day  he  exchanged  it 
for  a  beautiful  blanket  of  many  colors, 
such  as  is  worn  to  dances.  He  had  not 
gone  very  far  when  the  gay  blanket  fell 
to  pieces,  and  he  was  cold  and  sorrowful. 

He  did  not  know  what  else  to  do,  so 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  89 

he  went  back  to  look  for  his  raven  skin 
and  found  it  lying  by  the  roadside.  He 
put  it  on  again,  but  soon  came  upon 
another  dance  blanket  even  handsomer 
than  the  first.  Forgetting  the  lesson  he 
had  just  had,  he  tore  his  old  robe  in  half 
and  threw  it  away  with  contempt,  and 
dressed  himself  in  the  other.  Then  he 
walked  on,  thinking  how  well  he  must 
look  in  the  eyes  of  any  whom  he  might 
chance  to  meet. 

This  fine  dandy  was  greatly  pleased 
when  he  saw  a  strange  village  near  at 
hand,  until,  glancing  downward,  he  found 
to  his  dismay  that  he  was  covered  with 
nothing  but  moss  and  lichens.  Crying 
bitterly,  he  was  once  more  forced  to  go 
back  in  search  of  his  raven  skin ;  after 
hunting  a  long  time  he  found  it,  but  it 
was  torn  in  two.  Sadly  he  pinned  it 
about  his  body  as  well  as  he  could  and 
again  turned  his  steps  toward  the  village. 


90  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

While  he  was  still  a  little  way  off, 
Raven  plucked  up  spirit  and  gathered 
a  piece  of  rotten  spruce  wood,  which 
by  his  magic  art  he  turned  into  a  slave. 
Lacking  a  fine  blanket,  he  made  for  him 
self  some  large  ear  ornaments  out  of 
common  clam  shells  which  he  found  on 
the  beach.  Then  he  ordered  his  slave 
to  walk  before  him,  crying  in  a  loud 
voice : 

"People  of  the  village,  here  comes  my 
master,  who  is  a  great  chief !  You  will 
know  him  by  the  costly  ornaments  of 
abalone  shell  in  his  ears !" 

It  is  said  that  the  strangers  were 
deceived  by  this  fine  talk  and  invited 
the  pretender  to  their  chief's  wigwam, 
where  a  feast  was  given  in  his  honor. 

RAVEN  AND  THE  HUNTERS 

One  day  Raven  happened  to  see  a 
boat  load  of  hunters  coming  home  with 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  91 

plenty  of  game.  As  usual,  he  was  hun 
gry,  and  it  occurred  to  him  to  take  the 
shape  of  a  woman  in  the  hope  of  ob 
taining  some  food. 

Sure  enough,  when  the  hunters  noticed 
a  good-looking  young  woman  on  the 
shore,  they  beached  their  canoe  and 
took  her  on  board.  She  had  a  child  in 
her  arms,  and  the  child  cried  incessantly. 

"It  is  hungry/'  the  woman  explained; 
so  they  made  much  broth  of  wild  ducks 
and  fed  the  child  and  its  mother.  They 
feasted  most  of  that  night,  and  the  head 
man  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  sup 
posed  woman  that  he  offered  to  marry 
her.  All  went  well  till  they  awoke  in 
the  morning,  when,  to  his  surprise  and 
disgust,  the  new  wife  looked  like  a  man. 

"So  it  is  you,  up  to  your  tricks  again, 
you  good-for-nothing  Raven!  Be  off 
with  you!"  exclaimed  the  angry  hunter, 
and  he  cast  him  overboard. 


92  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

Raven  put  on  his  feathered  robe  and 
flew  off  without  any  trouble,  and  at  the 
same  moment  the  baby  turned  to  a  crow 
and  flew  away  also. 

RAVEN  AND  THE  CHILDREN 

Raven  was  out  for  a  walk  and  came 
upon  a  crowd  of  children  playing  with 
whale's  blubber.  Huge  piles  of  it  lay 
at  their  feet,  and  they  were  throwing 
lumps  at  one  another  in  great  glee.  He 
stopped  and  spoke  to  them. 

" Where  did  you  get  all  that  blubber?" 
he  asked. 

"Oh,"  answered  the  oldest  boy,  "we 
climb  up  that  tall  tree  you  see  over 
yonder  and  jump  down  from  the  topmost 
limb.  As  we  land,  we  cry  out,  'Be 
piled  up,  all  my  blubber ! '  and  it  is  so." 

Raven  immediately  climbed  the  tree 
and  jumped  off  the  highest  branch, 
shouting,  "Be  piled  up,  all  my  blubber !" 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  93 

Nothing  happened  except  that  he 
struck  the  ground  so  hard  that  he  was 
lame  for  several  days.  Meanwhile  the 
children  picked  up  the  blubber  and  ran 
off,  laughing  heartily. 

RAVEN  AND  HIS  MOTHER-IN-LAW 

Once  upon  a  time  Raven  came  to  a 
small  house  away  from  everybody,  where 
lived  two  women,  a  widow  and  her  young 
daughter.  The  elder  woman  asked  him 
in  and  gave  him  a  good  supper,  and  as 
the  house  appeared  to  be  well  stocked 
with  dried  fish  and  other  necessaries, 
he  proposed  that  evening  to  marry  the 
daughter  and  was  accepted. 

The  next  day,  after  a  hearty  break 
fast,  he  borrowed  the  old  woman's  stone 
ax  and  went  out.  He  told  the  two 
women  that  he  was  going  to  cut  down  a 
cedar  tree  and  make  a  boat  for  the  fish 
ing,  and  he  charged  his  wife  to  see  that 


94  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

her  mother  had  a  good  meal  ready  for 
him  on  his  return.  Before  night  he 
came  back  very  hungry,  saying  that  he 
had  felled  the  tree  and  would  begin 
next  day  to  hollow  out  the  canoe. 

This  went  on  for  some  time,  Raven 
going  forth  every  morning  with  the  ax 
and  returning  in  the  afternoon,  appar 
ently  tired  out,  and  with  so  great  an 
appetite  that  the  widow's  stores  of  food 
were  getting  low.  They  could  hear  the 
blows  of  the  ax  from  time  to  time  in  the 
depths  of  the  forest,  but  somehow  the 
boat  was  never  quite  finished. 

At  last  one  morning  the  old  woman 
said  to  her  daughter,  "Go  quietly,  my 
child;  follow  your  husband  without  let 
ting  him  know  it,  and  see  for  yourself 
what  progress  he  is  making/7 

The  young  wife  did  as  she  was  told, 
and  there  was  the  trickster  pounding 
a  rotten  stump  with  the  stone  ax  so  as 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  95 

to  make  the  sounds  they  had  heard. 
When  she  told  her  mother  what  she  had 
seen,  the  two  women  packed  up  all  the 
goods  they  had  left  and  went  away. 

When  Raven  went  home  that  night, 
he  found  only  the  empty  hut,  which 
was  as  much  as  he  deserved. 

RAVEN  AND  THE  SALMON  WOMAN 

Now  Raven  had  been  unfortunate  for  a 
long  time  and  was  poorer  than  ever,  but 
he  had  at  last  contrived  to  build  a  small 
hut  and  make  a  boat  and  a  spear.  Just 
as  he  was  ready  to  go  fishing,  a  heavy 
fog  came  down  and  covered  the  face  of 
the  water,  hiding  his  boat  entirely.  When 
the  fog  lifted,  there  sat  a  beautiful 
woman  in  the  bow  of  the  canoe. 

"You  have  come  to  my  boat;  will 
you  be  my  wife?"  asked  Raven. 

And  the  woman  consented,  saying, 
"Yes,  if  you  will  be  always  kind  to  me, 


96  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

my  husband.  Remember,  I  am  the  Sal 
mon  Woman." 

"Then  we  shall  have  plenty  of  fish 
>in  our  lodge/7  exclaimed  the  pleased 
bridegroom. 

And  he  was  right,  for  next  morning 
his  new  wife  rose  early  and  stepped  bare 
foot  into  the  little  brook  that  ran  close 
by  their  hut.  Instantly  salmon  by  hun 
dreds  came  leaping  up  the  stream,  and 
she  called  to  him,  saying : 

"Husband,  come!  the  creek  is  full  of 
silver  salmon!" 

After  he  had  speared  many,  he  went 
after  wood  with  which  to  smoke  their 
abundant  catch,  and  as  he  feared  the 
birds  might  come  down  and  steal  some 
of  his  fish  while  he  was  gathering  the 
wood,  he  left  one  of  his  eyes  to  watch 
the  boat,  telling  it  to  be  sure  and  call 
him  in  case  the  birds  came  near  the 
salmon. 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  97 

Soon  the  eye  cried  out,  "  Master,  come 
quickly!  the  birds  are  here/7  But  as 
he  was  very  busy  he  merely  replied, 
"Hide  the  fish  under  the  seat  until  I 
come,"  and  went  on  with  his  work. 

When  he  came  back  to  the  boat  with 
a  load  of  wood,  he  found  to  his  sorrow 
that  the  greedy  creatures  had  not  only 
eaten  up  all  the  fish  but  his  eye  also. 

Crying  bitterly,  Raven  went  back  to 
his  wife,  who  asked  him  what  the  matter 
was.  When  he  told  her,  she  had  only 
to  touch  the  empty  socket,  and  im 
mediately  he  had  a  new  eye  quite  as 
good  as  the  other.  As  for  the  stolen 
fish,  he  did  not  miss  them  at  all,  for  the 
tiny  stream  was  now  so  full  of  salmon 
that  there  was  scarcely  any  water  to  be 
seen. 

Although  their  poor  hut  was  well 
supplied  with  food,  and  his  meals  well 
cooked,  and  his  wife  was  as  loving  and 


98  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

kind  as  she  was  beautiful,  nevertheless 
Raven  would  leave  her  in  the  morning 
and  be  gone  all  day  without  saying  where 
he  went.  By  and  by  he  began  to  come 
home  in  a  bad  temper  and  to  speak  to 
her  harshly.  One  evening  he  exclaimed : 

"Well,  who  has  been  to  see  you  to 
day?" 

"No  one  has  been  to  see  me,  my 
husband,"  she  replied.  "No  one  ever 
comes  to  this  lonely  place." 

"Don't  try  to  deceive  me,"  said  he 
roughly.  "A  man  has  been  here  in  my 
absence.  I  know  it,  because  I  have 
been  gambling  this  long  time,  and  at 
first  I  had  good  luck,  but  to-day  my  luck 
was  bad ;  therefore  I  know  you  have  had 
a  man  here." 

Then  the  Salmon  Woman  felt  in 
sulted,  and  without  speaking  to  him  she 
turned  to  the  dried  fish  that  hung  from 
the  ceiling. 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  99 

"Come,  0  my  tribe!7'  she  cried,  and 
all  the  fish  came  to  life  and  followed  her. 
She  sprang  into  the  water  and  swam 
away,  and  they  all  swam  after  her, 
leaving  the  unkind  husband  alone  and 
hungry  once  more. 

THE  ANIMALS  IN  COUNCIL 

It  is  now  many  years  since  the  ancient 
friendship  between  man  and  the  animal 
tribes  was  broken,  and  since  that  time 
the  animals  have  been  hunted  contin 
ually  and  go  about  in  fear  of  their  lives. 
One  day  Grizzly  Bear  invited  all  the 
larger  beasts  to  meet  at  his  wigwam  and 
discuss  the  matter.  Deer,  Elk,  Wolf, 
and  many  others  were  present  when 
Grizzly  Bear  made  his  great  speech  in 
which  he  spoke  of  the  constant  danger 
they  were  in  and  the  need  of  finding  a 
remedy,  and  finally  proposed  that  they 
petition  He-Who-Made-Us  to  lengthen 


100  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

the  winter  and  cause  very  deep  snows 
with  extreme  cold,  so  that  the  hunters 
could  not  get  about. 

All  agreed  to  this  plan,  but  Wolf  got  up 
and  proposed  that  before  acting  upon  it 
they  should  consult  the  smaller  animals 
and  even  the  Insect  tribes.  "For/'  said 
he,  "if  we  ignore  them  now  they  may 
make  trouble  for  us  later  on." 

The  others  had  no  objection,  and  next 
day  Beaver,  Squirrel,  Mink,  Muskrat, 
all  four-footed  creatures  down  to  the 
little  Mouse,  and  all  of  the  Insect  tribes 
as  well,  were  invited  to  join  in  the 
council. 

It  was  a  great  gathering.  The  larger 
animals  sat  on  one  side  of  a  wide  semi 
circle,  and  the  smaller  on  the  other  side. 
Again  Grizzly  Bear  made  the  first  speech, 
telling  of  the  meeting  of  the  day  before 
and  of  his  suggestion,  and  asking  all 
present  for  their  opinion  on  the  matter. 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  101 

After  a  silence,  Porcupine  arose  and 
remarked  that  the  idea  might  do  well 
enough  for  those  who  had  warm  fur 
coats,  but  that  many  of  the  little  people 
were  not  so  well  protected  against  severe 
weather,  and  as  for  the  feeble  Insects,  if 
the  winters  should  become  any  longer 
or  colder  than  they  were  already,  they 
would  all  perish,  therefore  they  could 
not  agree  to  the  proposal. 

"I  don't  care  whether  you  agree  or 
not,"  growled  the  Bear.  "We  larger 
animals  have  decided  that  this  is  the 
best  thing  to  do,  and  we  are  going  to  do 
it  anyhow." 

"I  fear  you  are  short-sighted,"  re 
plied  Porcupine,  who  found  that  he  had 
used  the  wrong  argument.  "You  large 
animals  are  always  roaming  the  woods 
in  search  of  something  to  eat,  and  if 
the  winters  grow  any  colder  there  will 
be  no  food  for  you,  that  is  certain.  All 


102  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

life  will  perish,  even  the  roots  of  the 
grass  on  which  the  Deer  lives,  and  the 
berry  bushes  of  which  the  Bear  is  so  fond 
will  be  frozen.  You  will  all  starve,  but 
we  shall  live,  for  we  Porcupines  can  live 
on  the  bark  of  trees;  and  as  for  the 
smallest  Insects,  they  can  burrow  into 
the  earth  and  survive." 

The  other  animals  were  impressed  by 
this  speech  and  began  to  say  among 
themselves,  "How  wise  he  is!"  "Now 
who  would  have  thought  of  that?"  and 
"I  think  we  should  reconsider  the  mat 
ter." 

"Ah,  ha,  ha!"  laughed  Porcupine,  and 
he  was  so  pleased  with  himself  that  he 
stuck  his  thumb  into  his  mouth  and 
then  bit  it  off,  which  is  the  reason  that 
he  has  only  four  fingers  and  no  thumb. 

Now  the  animals  called  him  the  wisest 
of  their  number  and  accepted  his  de 
cision,  and  as  for  those  who  would  not 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  103 

agree,  Porcupine  filled  them  full  of  sharp 
quills,  on  which  account  they  all  stand 
in  awe  of  him  to  this  very  day. 

THE  FOUR  WINDS 

Once  there  were  four  great  chiefs  who 
lived  in  the  four  corners  of  the  earth, 
and  their  names  were  North  Wind, 
South  Wind,  East  Wind,  and  West 
Wind.  The  other  three  all  hated  North 
Wind,  for  he  was  very  rude  and  bois 
terous,  and  insisted  upon  blowing  his 
bitter  blast  into  their  faces  at  all  times 
of  the  year,  so  that  the  tender  fruit 
buds  and  fragile  blossoms  were  never 
safe  from  his  withering  breath. 

Finally  they  united  to  make  war  upon 
him,  and  after  a  long  struggle  they  suc 
ceeded  in  gaining  his  promise  that  he 
would  only  blow  for  half  the  year,  which 
helped  matters  a  little. 

Now  the  South  Wind  had  four  sturdy 


104  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

sons  and  a  beautiful  daughter,  while 
North  Wind's  family  consisted  of  twin 
boys,  one  of  whom  was  called  Frosted, 
and  the  other  Frozen.  No  sooner  were 
the  children  grown  up  than  Frosted 
wished  to  marry  the  daughter  of  South 
Wind,  who  was  as  fair  and  gentle  as  a 
summer's  day,  but  she  would  have  noth 
ing  to  say  to  him. 

The  next  year  Frozen  came  courting. 
He  was  a  handsome  fellow,  very  deter 
mined,  and  proved  more  fortunate  than 
his  brother.  The  wedding  feast  was  the 
finest  ever  known  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  It  lasted  for  seven  days,  at 
the  end  of  which  Frozen  carried  home 
his  bride  in  a  tempest  of  wind  and  rain. 

When  South  Wind's  daughter  reached 
the  land  of  perpetual  snow  and  ice,  she 
very  soon  regretted  her  rash  choice. 
There  was  not  so  much  as  a  spark  of  fire 
in  the  house,  which  was  built  of  ice 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  105 

blocks,  and  day  and  night  she  was  chilled 
to  the  very  marrow  of  her  bones.  Mean 
while  the  rest  of  the  family  were  saying, 
"What  a  pleasant  season  we  are  having ! " 
and  "The  weather  seems  unusually  mild 
for  this  time  of  the  year !" 

At  last  she  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and 
one  day  as  she  sat  sadly  on  the  beach 
she  picked  up  a  bit  of  yellow  driftwood 
and  carved  it  into  the  shape  of  a  duck. 
When  she  had  finished,  she  tossed  the 
duck  into  the  air,  saying : 

"Fly  south,  little  duck,  and  tell  my 
father  that  I  am  very  unhappy  here  in 
the  cruel  northland!"  And  the  duck 
flew  away  southward. 

Far  in  the  southland  the  South  Wind's 
wife  stood  in  the  door  of  their  wigwam 
and  called  to  her  husband,  "Look,  hus 
band!  Spring  is  coming,  for  I  see  the 
ducks  returning ! " 

The  little  yellow  duck  came  on,  and 


106  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

as  soon  as  he  was  near  enough  he  gave 
the  daughter's  message : 

"Your  child  is  very  unhappy  there  in 
the  cruel  northland !" 

When  South  Wind  understood  it,  he 
was  angry  and  called  his  four  strong  sons 
to  his  side.  "Boys,"  said  he,  "go  at 
once  to  North  Wind's  house  and  bring 
home  your  sister !" 

The  eldest  son  started  first  in  the  shape 
of  a  great  gray  cloud,  and  when  the  little 
bride  saw  the  cloud  in  the  distance  she 
was  glad,  for  she  felt  sure  that  it  was  her 
brother.  But  immediately  North  Wind 
went  out  with  his  two  sons  to  meet  him 
and  drove  him  back,  so  that  she  wrung 
her  hands  in  sorrow. 

The  second  brother  went  as  a  very 
black  cloud,  and  he  got  a  little  farther 
than  the  first  when  he  too  was  fiercely 
attacked  and  beaten  back.  Then  the 
bride  of  Frozen  cried  bitterly,  for  she 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  107 

began  to  be  afraid  she  must  stay  there 
forever. 

The  third  brother  went  as  a  great 
storm  of  rain,  and  he  had  nearly  reached 
the  spot  where  his  sister  was  eagerly 
waiting,  when  the  icy  wind  turned  the 
rain  to  hail  and  drove  it  back,  and  the 
poor  girl  was  in  despair. 

However,  there  was  still  the  youngest 
brother.  He  went  as  a  sharp-edged  and 
thin  cloud  which  slipped  right  by  North 
Wind  and  reached  his  palace,  where  he 
turned  all  the  ice  to  water.  The  whole 
country  was  flooded,  and  North  Wind 
and  his  family  were  helpless. 

"Not  only  does  your  son  lose  his 
bride/7  cried  the  victorious  son  of  South 
Wind,  as  he  retreated  with  his  sister, 
"but  I  shall  take  away  three  of  your 
months  also.  From  this  time  forth  you 
are  allowed  to  blow  but  three  months  in 
the  year." 


108  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

Thereupon  the  four  Winds  divided 
the  year  among  them  in  this  fashion: 
to  North  Wind  the  three  winter  months, 
to  East  Wind  the  spring,  to  West  Wind 
the  summer,  and  the  autumn  to  South 
Wind. 

THE  FEAST  OF  THE  MOUNTAIN  GOATS 

In  the  old  days  the  hunters  were  many 
and  skillful.  They  killed  hundreds  of 
mountain  goats  for  their  flesh  and  skins 
and  left  their  bones  lying  unburned  on 
the  rocks,  which  was  a  great  dishonor. 
Moreover,  their  children  were  thought 
less. 

One  day,  a  young  man  whose  name 
was  Really  Black  Raven  Feather  was 
walking  along  the  beach,  and  he  saw  a 
group  of  boys  making  merry  with  a  kid. 
They  would  seize  it  and  throw  it  into  the 
water,  watch  its  struggles  for  a  time,  then 
drag  it  ashore  half  drowned,  and  as 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  109 

soon  as  the  poor  creature  was  able  to 
walk,  they  would  throw  it  in  again. 
When  they  tired  of  this  sport,  they  built 
a  fire  and  put  the  kid  in  the  fire,  to  dry, 
as  they  said;  but  before  it  was  more 
than  scorched  this  young  man  pulled 
it  out  and  scolded  the  boys  severely  for 
their  cruelty,  so  that  they  all  ran  away. 

Not  long  after  this,  a  messenger  came 
down  from  the  hills  inviting  all  the 
villagers  to  a  feast,  and  as  was  the 
custom  they  followed  the  messenger. 
They  came  to  a  large  wigwam  on  the 
mountain  side  which  they  had  never 
seen  before,  and  all  were  seated  within 
this  immense  tent.  Really  Black  was 
given  a  seat  immediately  behind  the 
tent  pole,  which  was  unusually  heavy. 

Soon  a  crowd  of  people  wearing  goats' 
headdresses  came  dancing  and  singing 
over  the  rocks.  They  danced  around 
and  in  front  of  the  wigwam,  and  presently 


110  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

the  chief  dancer  kicked  so  high  that  he 
touched  the  tent  covering  with  his  goat's 
hoof.  Instantly  it  fell  down  on  the 
heads  of  the  guests  and  became  a  moun 
tain  which  crushed  them  to  death.  Only 
Really  Black  was  saved.  He  clung  to 
the  tent  pole,  which  became  a  giant  spruce 
growing  out  of  the  side  of  the  mountain. 
Therefore  he  and  his  descendants  have 
always  respected  the  goats,  and  taken 
care  to  burn  their  bones  when  it  was 
necessary  to  hunt  them  for  food  or 
clothing. 

THE  WOMAN  WHO  BECAME  A  BEAVER 

There  was  once  a  man  who  took  his 
wife  with  him  to  hunt  raccoons  at  a 
distance  from  the  village.  They  were 
very  successful.  Every  night  the  man 
shot  several  of  the  animals,  and  in  the 
daytime  they  were  both  busy  skinning 
them  and  trying  out  the  fat.  One  day 


THE  WOMAN  WHO  BECAME  A  BEAVER 

He  discovered  the  woman  in  a  small  pool. 
Page  111. 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  111 

the  young  wife  became  tired  of  work 
and  she  approached  her  husband  and 
tried  to  attract  his  attention,  saying 
playfully : 

"Look  at  me,  my  husband !"  • 

It  is  true  that  she  was  a  pretty  woman, 
but  the  man  was  bent  on  skinning  his 
game  just  then  and  took  no  notice  of 
her.  Seeing  that  he  made  no  answer, 
she  kept  on  teasing  him  to  look  at  her. 
At  last  he  grew  provoked. 

"Go  away/7  said  he  crossly;  "you  are 
no  better  than  these  raccoons  I" 

At  this  the  young  woman  was  much 
hurt  and  went  away  without  speaking. 
Her  husband  finished  his  work  and  then 
came  to  his  supper,  but  no  meal  had 
been  prepared  for  him,  and  no  wife  was 
to  be  seen.  He  called  and  called,  but 
no  one  answered.  After  searching  for 
her  some  time,  he  discovered  the  woman 
taking  a  bath  in  a  small  pool,  which  she 


112  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

had  made  for  herself  by  piling  up  sticks 
and  pebbles  to  dam  the  stream. 

"Come,  my  wife,  it  is  time  to  eat/' 
begged  the  young  husband. 

"You  have  said  that  I  am  no  better 
than  the  raccoons/7  she  answered,  "and 
I  am  very  much  ashamed.  I  prefer  to 
stay  where  I  am." 

He  went  back  to  their  hut,  but  came 
again  later  in  the  evening  and  tried  hard 
to  persuade  her. 

"My  wife,  you  know  that  I  love  you/' 
he  protested.  "I  only  spoke  as  I  did 
because  I  was  thinking  of  my  work  and 
I  wanted  to  get  through  with  it.  I  am 
sorry  for  what  I  said,  and  I  did  not  mean 
anything  by  it.  Come,  now,  you  should 
not  stay  in  the  water  so  long  or  you  will 
be  sick ;  and  besides,  it  is  time  to  go  to 
bed." 

She  would  not  listen  to  him,  however, 
and  he  noticed  that  the  dam  had  grown 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  113 

higher,  and  the  pool  was  much  bigger 
than  before. 

The  woman  did  not  come  to  bed  at 
all  that  night,  and  the  deserted  husband 
could  not  sleep  for  thinking  of  his  wife 
swimming  about  in  the  cold  water.  He 
lay  awake,  listening  to  the  lapping  of 
the  little  waves  and  the  slap  of  her 
leathern  apron  as  it  struck  the  water 
when  she  dived. 

Next  morning  the  pool  had  become  a 
pond,  and  out  in  the  middle  of  it  he 
could  still  see  her  swimming  about. 
For  the  third  time  he  called  to  her  and 
pleaded  with  her  to  come  out,  but  she 
would  not  answer  him  at  all,  so  he  went 
home  very  sorrowful. 

Now  the  young  woman  had  six 
brothers,  and  when  they  heard  what 
had  happened,  they  all  declared  that 
they  would  go  and  bring  home  their 
sister.  Their  brother-in-law  guided  them 


114  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

to  the  spot  where  he  had  left  her  and  be 
hold  !  a  large  lake  filled  the  valley,  and 
there  was  a  beaver  house  under  the  dam. 

The  young  men  saw  several  young 
beavers  swimming  about,  and  presently 
they  heard  a  great  beaver  tail  spank  the 
water.  Looking  closely,  they  recognized 
the  woman,  but  she  was  covered  from 
head  to  foot  with  soft  brown  fur,  and 
her  leathern  apron  had  become  the  flat 
tail  of  a  beaver. 

At  this  they  wept  much,  and  with 
one  voice  implored  her  to  come  home. 

"No,"  said  the  beaver  woman.  "My 
husband  has  said  that  I  am  no  better 
than  the  raccoons,  and  I  am  too  much 
ashamed  to  live  with  mankind  any 
longer.  Do  not  trouble  about  me 
further,  for  I  shall  never  come  back." 

"Let  us  go  away  and  leave  her," 
said  the  eldest  brother,  for  he  did  not 
know  what  else  to  do. 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  115 

"  No,"  said  the  youngest.  "  Let  us  break 
the  dam ;  then  all  the  water  will  run  out, 
and  she  will  be  compelled  to  come." 

They  broke  the  dam  and  destroyed 
the  beaver  house.  The  woman  lay  face 
downward  in  the  mud  at  what  had  been 
the  bottom  of  the  lake.  She  was  quite 
dead.  In  all  points  she  was  like  a 
beaver,  but  when  they  turned  the  body 
over,  grieving  much,  the  face  was  the 
face  of  the  offended  wife. 

THE  TEN  PRINCES 

The  ten  sons  of  a  chief  went  hunting, 
and  all  took  their  wives  with  them  except 
the  youngest  brother,  who  was  un 
married.  They  all  camped  together  at 
night,  and  in  the  morning  the  eldest 
prince  went  out  in  search  of  game. 

The  first  thing  he  saw  was  a  fat  por 
cupine  coming  toward  him,  which  he 
easily  caught.  He  wrung  its  neck,  and 


116  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

hung  it  on  the  branch  of  a  tree,  and 
went  on. 

Near  the  top  of  a  hill,  he  met  a  hand 
some  white  she-bear  and  shot  her  dead. 
He  kept  on  to  the  very  top,  and  looking 
down,  perceived  a  strange  town  at  the 
foot,  which  made  him  very  curious.  He 
walked  up  boldly  to  "the  first  hut, 
in  which  a  pretty  young  woman  sat 
alone.  She  beckoned  to  him  through 
the  window,  but  he  had  scarcely  entered 
when  some  one  called  out  from  the  next 
dwelling : 

"You  have  a  visitor.  Send  him  here: 
the  chief  wishes  to  see  him." 

At  the  chief's  door,  several  young  men 
met  the  stranger  with  much  kindness 
and  greatly  admired  his  weapons,  which 
they  begged  to  be  allowed  to  examine. 
As  soon  as  he  went  in,  the  chief  greeted 
him  with  all  hospitality.  He  ordered 
that  the  softest  robes  be  brought  for  his 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  117 

seat  and  caused  him  to  be  served  with 
the  choicest  food.  While  he  ate,  his 
weapons  were  returned  to  him  and  laid 
at  his  side.  When  night  came,  the 
chief  said,  "  Bring  the  best  blanket  for 
our  guest;  he  will  remain  with  us  to 
night"  ;  and  it  was  done. 

In  the  morning  a  cry  arose,  "The 
bears  are  coming  \" 

"Let  my  best  hunters  go  out  against 
them,"  ordered  the  chief.  Now  the 
young  prince  was  an  expert  hunter  and 
had  a  mind  to  display  his  skill,  so  he 
hastened  to  attack  the  foremost  bear. 
He  drew  out  his  best  arrow,  but  to  his 
astonishment  the  arrow  broke.  Hur 
riedly  he  seized  his  spear,  and  the  spear 
broke.  In  a  moment  the  grizzly  bear 
was  upon  him  and  bore  him  to  the 
ground. 

As  soon  as  he  was  dead,  the  young 
men  dragged  his  body  into  the  chief's 


118  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

hut,  where  the  chief  caused  it  to  be  cut 
in  pieces  and  hung  up  to  dry. 

Now  when  this  young  man  did  not 
come  back  to  camp  on  that  day  or  the 
next,  his  wife  grew  anxious,  and  the 
next  in  age  offered  to  go  in  search  of 
him.  He  set  out  in  the  same  direction, 
and  half-way  up  the  hill  he  met  a  fat 
porcupine,  which  he  clubbed  and  hung 
in  a  tree  as  his  brother  had  done.  A 
little  further  on,  he  saw  a  white  she- 
bear  and  killed  her,  after  which  he  went 
toward  the  village  which  he  observed 
in  the  distance. 

The  pretty  young  woman  invited  him 
to  come  in,  and  the  young  men  welcomed 
him  cordially  and  took  away  his  weapons, 
which  they  returned  to  him  as  he  sat 
feasting  in  the  house  of  the  chief.  In 
short,  everything  happened  to  him  ex 
actly  as  it  had  happened  to  his  brother ; 
and  in  the  morning,  when  his  arrows 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  119 

broke  off  short,  he  was  at  the  mercy  of 
the  bear,  and  his  body  was  cut  up  and 
hung  beside  that  of  the  first. 

Next  day,  the  third  youth  went  to 
look  for  the  other  two,  and  so  on,  until 
all  were  gone  except  the  youngest.  The 
nine  widows  mourned  continually,  and 
they  begged  the  last  brother  not  to  follow 
the  others,  for  if  he  should,  they  felt 
sure  that  he  too  would  be  lost  and  they 
would  all  be  left  without  a  protector. 
However,  he  insisted  upon  going,  assur 
ing  them  that  not  only  would  he  come 
back  safe  and  sound,  but  would  bring 
back  their  husbands  also. 

He  took  the  same  path  up  the  hill, 
and  when  he  saw  the  fat  porcupine 
coming  to  meet  him,  it  occurred  to  him 
that  he  had  better  let  her  pass  unharmed, 
and  he  did  so.  A  little  later,  he  met  the 
white  she-bear  and  shot  her;  but  when 
he  came  to  her  he  could  not  help  laying 


120  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

his  hand  gently  on  her  side  and  exclaim 
ing  aloud,  "How  beautiful  she  is!" 

Instantly  the  bear  became  a  hand 
some  young  woman,  who  smiled  upon 
him,  and  warned  him  of  the  dangers  that 
he  would  meet  in  the  Bears'  town  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill. 

"These  people  are  really  Bears,"  said 
she,  "and  I  am  one  of  them  sent  to 
deceive  you.  But  you  have  no  wife, 
and  I  like  you  very  much.  Do  not 
let  the  young  men  take  your  weapons 
even  for  a  minute,  or  they  will  change 
them  to  dry  sticks  as  they  did  those  of 
your  nine  brothers,  who  killed  me  with 
out  remorse." 

Finally  she  gave  him  two  small  pups 
and  told  him  to  hide  them  in  his  robe, 
and  if  ever  he  was  in  trouble  to  set  them 
one  by  one  on  the  ground,  saying,  "  Red, 
grow  up  quick  and  help  me!"  "Spot, 
grow  up  quick  and  help  me!"  and  it 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  121 

should  be  so.  Then  she  kissed  and 
embraced  him,  and  he  went  on  down 
the  hill  to  the  village. 

In  the  first  hut  he  came  to  he  found 
his  sweetheart  again,  and  she  greeted 
him  lovingly.  When  the  chief  sent  for 
him,  she  delayed  parting  with  him  as 
long  as  she  could,  but  was  at  last  forced 
to  let  him  go,  with  many  charges  as  to 
the  best  way  to  outwit  her  kinsmen. 
Accordingly  he  kept  fast  hold  of  his 
weapons,  when  the  young  men  crowded 
admiringly  about  him,  and  even  lay 
awake  all  night  lest  they  should  take 
them  from  him  while  he  slept. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  Bears  came 
on  as  before,  and  the  chief  called  for  men 
to  go  out  and  meet  them,  the  young 
prince  drew  his  bow  and  shot  the  fore 
most  through  the  heart.  More  followed, 
and  he  killed  them  one  after  another  until 
his  arrows  were  all  gone.  Then  he  fought 


122  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

with  his  spear  until  he  was  tired  out,  and 
still  the  Bears  came  on. 

Finally  he  remembered  the  pups  that 
his  sweetheart  had  given  him,  and  he 
placed  the  first  one  on  the  ground,  say 
ing,  "Grow  up  quick,  Red,  and  help 
me!" 

Instantly  the  pup  became  an  im 
mense  dog  which  rushed  at  the  Bears 
and  drove  them  back. 

Then  he  put  down  the  second  pup, 
saying,  "Grow  up  quick,  Spot,  and  help 
me!"  and  another  savage  dog  attacked 
and  put  to  rout  the  last  of  his  enemies. 

Then  the  young  man  returned  to  the 
Bear  chief's  wigwam  for  his  nine  brothers. 
He  took  down  the  pieces  of  their  bodies 
and  laid  them  side  by  side,  and  they  all 
came  to  life  and  followed  the  hero  and 
his  Bear  wife  back  to  their  own  camp, 
where  they  were  welcomed  with  great 
rejoicings. 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  123 

THE  GIRL  WHO  REJECTED  HER  COUSIN 

In  the  old  days,  a  chiefs  daughter 
was  expected  to  marry  the  son  of  her 
uncle,  and  so  keep  the  chieftainship  in 
the  family.  But  there  was  once  a  proud 
princess  who  behaved  very  badly  to 
her  cousin  when  he  came  wooing,  accord 
ing  to  the  custom. 

"I  must  be  sure  that  you  love  me," 
she  said. 

"I  do  love  you,"  he  declared. 

Upon  which  she  answered,  "Then 
prove  your  love  by  making  a  cut  down 
your  right  cheek." 

"The  young  man  immediately  took 
out  his  knife  and  slashed  his  right  cheek 
so  that  the  blood  streamed  over  his  face. 

When  the  cut  had  healed,  he  went 
again  to  his  cousin  and  asked  for  her 
hand  with  some  confidence,  but  she  said : 

"First  you  must  cut  your  left  cheek 


124  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

also,  and  then  I  shall  know  that  you 
really  love  me." 

The  young  man  did  not  like  to  do  it, 
but  he  would  not  give  up,  and  he  slashed 
his  left  cheek  also. 

He  waited  for  the  second  cut  to  heal 
and  then  went  to  her  with  his  scarred 
face  and  begged  her  to  marry  him  at 
once. 

"Yes,"  said  she,  "I  will  marry  you, 
for  you  have  done  well,"  and  she  kissed 
him,  so  that  he  became  more  in  love 
than  ever.  Finally  she  told  him  sweetly 
that  she  was  not  yet  entirely  satisfied, 
and  that  before  the  wedding  he  must 
cut  off  all  his  hair. 

Now  short  hair  is  considered  a  dis 
grace  to  a  man,  and  the  prince  was  most 
unwilling  to  cut  his  off,  but  at  last  he 
yielded  and  went  to  her  to  ask  that  the 
wedding  day  might  be  set.  But  she 
refused  to  see  him,  merely  sending  a 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  125 

servant  with  the  message  that  he  must 
be  quite  mad  to  suppose  that  she  would 
marry  such  a  hideous  object  as  he  had 
made  of  himself. 

The  poor  young  man  was  very  un 
happy,  and  he  left  his  home  and  wandered 
away  until  he  came  to  a  small  hut  that 
stood  all  by  itself  under  a  hill. 

An  old  woman  opened  the  door  and 
kindly  asked  him  to  come  in  —  "that 
is,"  said  she,  "if  you  are  the  chief's  son 
who  was  rejected  by  his  cousin." 

"I  am  he,"  declared  the  youth. 

"What  can  I  do  for  you?"  asked  the 
old  woman. 

He  answered  that  he  wanted  nothing 
more  than  to  be  as  he  had  been,  before 
he  disfigured  himself  at  the  bidding  of 
the  cruel  young  woman. 

Accordingly  the  crone  prepared  a  bath 
for  him,  and  when  he  came  out  his  skin 
was  smooth  and  fine,  without  any  mark 


126  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

upon  it.  She  combed  his  hair  with  a 
comb  of  ivory,  and  it  became  long  and 
splendid  and  fell  over  his  shoulders 
like  a  mantle,  so  that  he  was  far  hand 
somer  than  before. 

When  he  went  back  to  the  village,  all 
the  people  admired  him  as  a  being  from 
another  world,  and  his  cousin  put  on 
her  best  robes  and  walked  to  and  fro, 
trying  to  attract  his  attention,  but  he 
did  not  even  glance  at  her.  Finally 
she  sent  her  servant  with  a  message, 
asking  him  to  come  and  see  her. 

When  he  did  not  appear,  she  sent  a 
second  time,  and  inquired  very  humbly 
what  she  could  do  to  please  him.  He 
told  the  messenger  to  say  that  if  she 
would  slash  her  right  cheek  with  a  knife, 
he  would  come. 

So  the  princess  cut  open  her  right 
cheek,  and  when  the  cut  had  healed  she 
sent  to  her  cousin  again.  This  time  he 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  127 

made  answer  that  she  must  first  cut 
her  left  cheek  also,  and  she  did  as  he 
ordered. 

When  her  messenger  came  to  the  prince 
a  fourth  time,  he  directed  that  her  mis 
tress  cut  off  all  her  beautiful  hair,  de 
claring  that  he  would  then  be  entirely 
satisfied.  Crying  bitterly,  the  poor  girl 
cut  it  off  and  sent  it  to  her  lover,  but  he 
threw  it  on  the  ground  with  contempt, 
saying  that  nothing  would  induce  him 
to  look  upon  the  face  of  a  woman  who 
had  so  disfigured  herself. 

The  wise  men  say  that  since  this 
happened,  women  have  not  been  allowed 
to  choose  their  husbands,  or  to  refuse 
the  men  who  have  been  selected  for  them 
to  marry. 

GRIZZLY  BEAR  AND  THE  FOUR  CHIEFS 

There  were  once  four  chiefs  who  were 
brothers  and  lived  in  one  village.  In 


128  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

the  dead  of  winter,  when  food  was 
scarce,  a  lean  stranger  came  among 
them  and  stopped  at  the  hut  of  the 
eldest  brother. 

He  was  courteously  received  and 
seated  by  the  fire,  as  is  the  custom,  and 
the  chief  asked  him  where  he  came  from. 

"I  have  come  a  long  way,"  replied 
the  stranger. 

"And  what  have  you  eaten  on  the 
way?" 

"I  have  eaten  nothing  but  snow,"  he 
said. 

Then  the  chief  ordered  a  dish  of  snow 
and  a  spoon  to  be  placed  before  his 
guest,  but  he  got  up  without  touching 
it  and  went  on  to  the  house  of  the  second 
brother. 

Here  he  was  again  asked  where  he 
came  from  and  what  he  had  eaten  on 
the  road,  and  when  he  answered  that  he 
had  eaten  only  snow,  he  was  given  a 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  129 

large  dish  of  it  with  a  spoon.  The  same 
thing  happened  at  the  third  house. 

When  the  traveler  came  to  the  dwell 
ing  of  the  youngest  brother,  and  the 
host  heard  that  he  had  eaten  nothing 
but  snow  and  was  starving,  he  said  to 
his  wife,  "  Wife,  see  if  there  is  still  a  dried 
salmon  left." 

She  looked,  and  found  a  single  one, 
half  of  which  she  broiled  and  gave  it  on 
a  dish  to  the  stranger. 

After  he  had  eaten,  he  made  ready  to 
go  on,  but  his  host  said,  "Wife,  give 
our  guest  the  other  half  of  the  salmon  to 
eat  on  the  journey,"  and  she  did  so. 

Then  the  stranger  said  to  him,  "All 
the  others  ridiculed  a  starving  man,  but 
you  were  a  true  host.  Your  kindness 
shall  be  rewarded.  Meet  me  to-morrow 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river." 

The  young  chief  did  as  he  was  told, 
and  behold!  a  great  grizzly  Bear,  who 


130  TSIMSHIAN   TALES" 

presented  him  with  leggings,  a  grizzly- 
bear  headdress,  and  a  magic  bow  which 
killed  all  manner  of  game.  From  that 
day  he  never  went  hungry,  but  became 
the  envy  of  his  elder  brothers  and  the 
richest  man  in  the  village. 

THE  WOODEN  WIFE 

Once  there  was  a  young  man  newly 
married  who  was  very  fond  of  his  wife. 
She  was  not  only  a  pretty  woman,  but 
she  wove  the  most  beautiful  dancing- 
blankets  of  any  one  in  the  tribe. 

One  day  this  young  man  went  into 
the  mountains  to  hunt  wild  goats,  from 
whose  hair  his  wife  might  weave  more  of 
her  much-prized  blankets,  and  she  went 
with  him  to  keep  his  hut  and  to  cook  for 
him.  While  they  were  yet  far  from  the 
village,  the  girl  fell  sick,  and  although  he 
did  all  that  he  could  for  her,  the  young 
husband  soon  saw  that  she  was  dying. 


TSIMSHIAN   TALES  131 

"Tell  me,  my  dear,  what  can  I  do  for 
you?"  he  begged,  as  he  hung  over  her. 

"Only  do  not  leave  me  soon,  my 
husband !  Do  not  soon  forget  our  love," 
sighed  the  wife,  and  she  died. 

The  goat-hunter  mourned  her  truly, 
and  he  did  as  she  had  asked  him  to  do. 
He  remained  on  the  spot  where  he  had 
lost  her  and  seemed  to  have  no  thought 
of  going  back  to  the  village.  He  kept 
her  body  with  him  in  the  hut  as  long  as 
he  could,  and  when  at  last  he  was  forced 
to  lay  it  away,  he  carved  an  image  out 
of  cedar  wood  and  set  it  up  in  front  of 
her  loom,  so  that  as  one  entered  the  hut 
it  seemed  that  a  woman  sat  there,  weav 
ing  a  dancing-blanket.  Every  morning 
he  went  out  hunting  goats,  and  when  he 
returned  in  the  evening  he  would  call 
out  as  he  came  near  the  hut,  saying : 

"Come  out,  my  wife,  and  see  what  I 
have  brought  you !" 


132  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

Then  he  would  answer  himself  in  a 
woman's  voice,  "I  cannot  come  just 
now,  my  husband.  I  am  weaving,  and 
the  wool  may  become  snarled  if  I  leave 
my  loom." 

Presently  he  would  enter  the  wigwam, 
come  up  behind  his  wooden  wife,  and 
kiss  her  lovingly. 

After  a  time,  the  story  of  these  strange 
doings  spread  to  the  village,  and  two 
young  girls,  sisters,  being  filled  with 
curiosity,  decided  to  come  and  find  out 
for  themselves  what  truth  there  might 
be  in  the  rumors  that  were  about.  When 
they  reached  his  lonely  hut,  the  hunter 
was  away  as  usual,  so  they  raised  the 
door-flap  and  peeped  in.  There  sat  the 
wooden  wife  in  front  of  the  loom,  with 
her  back  to  them,  exactly  like  a  woman 
weaving. 

"Elder  sister, "  said  they,  "we  are 
hungry."  But  when  she  did  not  move 


"TSIMSHIAN  TALES  133 

nor  speak,  they  knew  that  she  was  not 
a  real  woman,  and  they  hid  in  a  corner 
behind  some  blankets  until  the  husband 
should  return. 

By  and  by  they  heard  his  voice  out 
side  the  hut,  telling  his  wife  to  come  out 
and  see  the  game  he  had  brought,  and 
then  her  usual  answer  that  she  was  busy 
weaving  and  could  not  come  just  then. 
Next  he  came  in,  put  his  arms  about  the 
wooden  wife,  and  kissed  her  fondly. 

Upon  this  the  elder  girl  could  not  help 
laughing  so  that  he  heard  it  and  dis 
covered  them  both.  But  the  young  man 
was  a  courteous  host.  He  begged  them 
to  be  seated  and  offered  them  food,  and 
the  elder  sister  ate  heartily;  she  even 
over-ate,  while  the  younger  was  very 
quiet  and  took  but  a  taste  of  each  dish. 
The  hunter  took  note  of  their  conduct, 
and  when  supper  was  over,  he  asked  the 
younger  girl  to  be  his  wife. 


134  TSIMSHIAN   TALES 

"I  will  marry  you,"  said  she,  "if  you 
will  put  away  your  wooden  wife."  Ac 
cordingly  he  destroyed  the  image  that 
he  had  made,  and  married  the  girl,  and 
they  lived  happily  together  for  many 
years. 

ILDINI 

Ildini  lived  at  End-of-trail,  with  his 
wife  and  two  boys.  One  day  he  went 
fishing  when  the  wind  blew  strong  from 
the  shore.  It  blew  his  boat  so  far  out 
that  he  could  not  get  back.  All  day  and 
all  night  he  was  blown  about  the  cold 
gray  waters.  He  became  very  hungry 
and  chilled  to  the  bone. 

Ildini  prayed  and  sang  for  a  fair  wind. 
This  was  his  song : 

"  Ocean  Spirit,  calm  the  waves  for  me  ! 
Come  closer  to  me,  my  Power  ! 
Calm  the  waves,  so  that  I  may  go  home  !" 

After  many  days  the  wind  went  down 
and  the  canoe  floated  near  a  strange 


TSIMSHIAN  TALES  135 

shore,  but  by  now  the  man  was  so  weak 
that  he  could  not  land.  On  the  shore  he 
saw  no  one  but  a  little  child,  scarcely 
big  enough  to  talk.  He  told  the  child 
his  name,  "Ildini",  and  the  little  fellow 
repeated  it  over  and  over  as  if  it  were  a 
game  —  "Ildini  —  Ildini  -  -  Ildini ! "  He 
ran  home  still  saying  over  the  new  name, 
and  exclaimed  to  his  grandfather : 
"Grandfather,  come  Ildini!"  He 
kept  saying  this  until  the  old  man  fol 
lowed  and  discovered  the  canoe  and  the 
fisherman,  who  was  by  this  time  unable 
to  stand. 

He  called  his  wife  to  help  him  and 
together  they  carried  Ildini  to  their 
house,  where  they  rubbed  his  limbs, 
warmed  him  and  gave  him  broth,  a  little 
at  a  time.  When  he  had  recovered,  he 
became  the  chief  of  that  tribe,  and 
learned  their  ways  and  their  language. 
He  never  ceased  to  mourn  for  the  two 


136  TSIMSHIAN  TALES 

sons  whom  he  had  left  behind  at  End- 
of-trail,  but  he  did  not  weep  for  his 
wife,  for  he  believed  her  faithless  and 
thought  that  she  had  been  the  cause  of 
his  misfortune.  In  truth  she  supposed 
him  dead  and  had  long  since  married 
another. 


ALASKAN  STORIES 


ALASKAN  STORIES 

THE  MAN  WHO  ENTERTAINED  BEARS 

THERE  was  once  a  man  who  had 
lost  all  of  his  family  in  a  terrible 
sickness  that  came  upon  the  people 
of  his  village.  He  was  all  alone  in  the 
world  and  very  sorrowful.  He  did  not 
know  what  to  do.  First  he  thought  he 
would  get  into  his  canoe  and  paddle  away 
till  he  came  to  another  village.  Then  it 
occurred  to  him  that  they  might  think  he 
had  run  away  from  home  because  he  had 
been  accused  of  witchcraft  or  of  some 
other  shameful  thing. 

He  considered  taking  his  own  life, 
but  did  not  like  to  do  it.  Finally  he 
concluded  to  go  among  the  bears  and 
let  them  kill  him.  He  found  a  bear 


140  ALASKAN   STORIES 

trail,  and  lay  down  in  it  till  he  heard  the 
bushes  breaking  and  saw  several  grizzly 
bears  coming  along  the  trail.  An  un 
usually  large  bear  was  at  their  head. 

Suddenly  the  man  became  frightened 
and  felt  that  he  had  chosen  a  hard  death. 
He  arose  and  spoke  to  the  leading  bear. 

" Brother/7  said  he,  "I  am  come  to 
invite  you  to  a  feast  in  honor  of  my 
dead.  I  have  lost  my  children  and  my 
wife  and  there  is  none  left  of  my  blood 
and  of  my  house.  Will  you  help  me  to 
do  honor  to  their  spirits?" 

The  largest  bear  turned  toward  the 
others  and  whined,  as  if  he  were  telling 
them  of  the  invitation.  Then  they  all 
went  back,  and  the  man  hurried  home 
to  prepare  his  feast.  He  took  away  all 
the  old  sand  from  his  fireplace  and  re 
placed  it  with  clean  sand.  He  brought 
a  load  of  wood  and  picked  many  berries, 
both  cranberries  and  huckleberries.  He 


ALASKAN   STORIES  141 

also  told  his  neighbors  what  guests  he 
expected,  and  they  all  supposed  him 
crazed  by  sorrow. 

Next  morning  he  arose  early  and 
painted  himself  with  unusual  care.  When 
all  was  ready,  he  stood  in  the  doorway 
of  his  house  awaiting  his  guests.  Pres 
ently  he  saw  the  bears  entering  the  mouth 
of  the  creek  in  single  file,  the  great  bear 
in  the  lead,  just  as  on  the  day  before. 
The  other  villagers  saw  them  too  and 
ran  and  hid  themselves  in  their  houses, 
terrified  out  of  their  wits;  but  their 
host  stood  still  to  receive  them  and  give 
them  the  seats  of  honor,  the  chief  in 
the  middle  seat,  as  is  the  custom. 

First  he  served  them  with  large  trays 
of  cranberries  covered  with  grease,  and 
as  soon  as  the  bear  chief  began  to  eat 
of  the  food  the  others  followed  his  ex 
ample.  The  other  courses  were  served 
and  eaten  in  the  same  way.  When  all 


142  ALASKAN   STORIES 

had  finished  eating  and  were  about  to 
retire,  each  in  turn  licked  some  of  the 
paint  from  his  breast  and  arms  in  sign 
of  their  sympathy. 

On  the  next  day,  the  smallest  bear 
came  back  alone  in  human  form,  and 
spoke  to  his  host  in  his  own  tongue,  tell 
ing  him  that  he  was  a  man  who  had  long 
since  been  captured  and  adopted  into 
the  Bear  tribe.  "The  Bear  Chief/7  said 
this  person,  "is  very  sorry  for  you,  be 
cause  he  too  has  lost  all  of  his  friends. 
He  understood  your  sorrow  and  for  that 
reason  refrained  from  killing  you.  I 
was  not  permitted  to  speak  to  you  in 
his  presence,  but  he  wishes  you  to  re 
member  him  when  you  mourn  for  your 
dead." 

Ever  since  this  time,  the  old  men, 
when  they  kill  a  grizzly  bear,  paint  a 
cross  on  its  skin.  It  is  also  commanded 
that  when  you  give  a  feast  you  should 


ALASKAN   STORIES  143 

invite  every  one,  even  your  enemies, 
just  as  this  man  invited  the  Bears,  who 
are  the  enemies  of  human  kind. 

BEAVER  AND  PORCUPINE 

Once  in  the  old  days  Beaver  and  Por 
cupine  were  comrades  and  went  every 
where  together.  Now  Beavers  are  much 
afraid  of  Bears,  who  break  down  the 
beaver  dams  so  as  to  let  off  the  water, 
catch  them  and  eat  them.  But  the 
Bear  fears  the  sharp  quills  of  the  Por 
cupine,  therefore  the  little  fellow  acted 
as  guard  to  his  friend.  Porcupine  often 
visited  Beaver  in  his  house,  which  is 
dry  and  comfortable,  and  unfortunately 
annoyed  his  host  by  leaving  some  of  his 
quills  there. 

One  day  Porcupine  proposed  to  call  on 
his  friend,  and  Beaver  offered  to  carry 
him  on  his  back,  since  the  prickly  one 
cannot  swim.  But  instead  of  taking 


144  ALASKAN   STORIES 

him  to  his  home  under  the  dam,  he  took 
him  to  a  tall  stump  in  the  very  middle 
of  the  lake,  and  there  he  left  him ! 

There  Porcupine  was  compelled  to 
stay  until  the  lake  froze  over,  and  he 
could  walk  home  on  the  ice. 

Beaver  contrived  to  explain  the  whole 
thing  as  a  joke,  and  the  pair  appeared 
to  be  on  as  good  terms  as  ever.  One 
fine  day  the  Bear  appeared. 

"What  shall  I  do?  Save  me!  save 
me!"  cried  Beaver  in  terror. 

"Certainly,  friend;  just  get  upon  my 
back  and  I  will  carry  you  to  safety," 
replied  Porcupine. 

Beaver  did  as  he  was  told,  and  was 
taken  to  the  top  of  a  very  tall  tree  and 
left  to  himself.  He  did  not  know  how 
to  climb  and  was  afraid  to  try  to  get 
down  alone. 

"Oh,  do  help  me  down!"  he  cried; 
but  it  was  of  no  use  to  beg.  After 


BEAVER  AND  PORCUPINE 

He  took  him  to  a  tall  stump  in  the  very  middle  of  the  lake  and  there  he 

left  him. 
Page  144. 


ALASKAN   STORIES  145 

staying  up  there  so  long  that  he  grew 
dizzy  and  almost  starved  to  death,  he 
finally  contrived  to  scramble  down  the 
tree ;  and  they  say  that  is  why  the  bark 
of  trees  is  rough  and  full  of  scratches  to 
this  day.  We  are  also  told  that  it  is 
on  account  of  this  happening  that  people 
who  have  loved  each  other  very  much 
sometimes  quarrel,  and  are  no  longer 
friends. 

MOUNTAIN  DWELLER 

Two  sisters  belonging  to  a  well-known 
family  one  day  became  very  hungry  and 
helped  themselves  to  some  of  their 
mother's  fat  meat,  notwithstanding  the 
girls  were  strictly  forbidden  to  eat  any 
thing  between  meals. 

When  the  mother  found  it  out  she  was 
angry,  especially  with  her  elder  daugh 
ter,  for  the  younger  was  still  a  child. 
She  not  only  scolded  the  girl,  but  slapped 
her  severely.  At  last  she  said:  " Since 


146  ALASKAN   STORIES 

you  are  so  fond  of  eating,  you  had  better 
go  and  marry  Mountain  Dweller!'7 

Now  Mountain  Dweller  is  a  being  who 
lives  alone  upon  the  mountains  and  is 
supposed  to  be  a  great  hunter.  Up  to 
this  time,  no  mortal  had  ever  seen  him. 
The  girls  were  more  deeply  offended 
by  her  words  than  by  the  blows  she  had 
given  the  elder,  and  that  night  when  their 
mother  slept  they  ran  off  into  the  woods. 

They  had  wandered  a  long  way  and 
were  crying  with  fear  and  hunger  when 
they  heard  some  one  chopping  wood  in 
the  distance.  "  Perhaps  it  is  really  he," 
said  the  elder  sister,  and  they  followed 
the  sound. 

There  stood  a  man  whose  face  was 
painted  red.  He  was  kind  and  asked 
the  girls  what  they  were  doing  so  far 
from  home. 

As  soon  as  they  had  told  him,  he  in 
vited  them  into  his  house  near  by,  and 


ALASKAN  STORIES  147 

they  found  it  large  and  well  stored  with 
abundance  of  meat.  They  remained 
there  as  he  asked  them,  and  the  elder 
sister  in  time  became  his  wife. 

Now  the  mother  had  soon  repented 
her  hasty  speech  and  both  parents 
searched  everywhere  for  their  daughters. 
When  they  could  not  find  them,  they 
mourned  them  as  dead.  A  year  passed, 
and  the  mourners'  feast  had  been  given, 
when  one  day  Mountain  Dweller  said 
to  his  wife  and  his  sister-in-law: 
"Wouldn't  you  like  to  see  your  father 
and  mother  again?" 

"Oh,  yes,  yes!"  exclaimed  the  little 
girl,  but  the  other  thought  not,  for  the 
insult  was  hard  to  forgive.  At  last  she 
consented  to  go,  whereupon  her  husband 
hunted  continually  and  prepared  a  large 
quantity  of  meat  for  a  present  to  his 
father-in-law. 

"Make  a  little  basket,  no  larger  than 


148  ALASKAN   STORIES 

the  end  of  your  thumb/'  he  told  her; 
and  when  it  was  finished,  he  put  into  it 
all  those  canoe  loads  of  meat,  hung  it 
on  his  finger,  and  the  three  of  them  went 
down  the  mountain  to  the  old  home  of 
the  two  girls. 

Their  little  brother  was  playing  out 
side  the  hut  and  saw  them  first.  He 
ran  inside.  " Mother,  mother!"  he 
cried,  "my  two  sisters  are  coming!"  ; 

"  Nonsense/'  scolded  his  mother. 
"Your  sisters  have  been  dead  a  long 
time,  as  you  well  know.  Did  we  not 
give  the  mourners'  feast  for  them  this 
last  moon?" 

"Nevertheless  I  ought  to  know  my 
own  sisters,  and  I  do  know  them,"  the 
boy  persisted.  "They  are  coming  — 
they  are  here!" 

The  mother  came  to  the  door  and  saw 
them,  and  instantly  she  threw  herself 
upon  their  necks,  crying  for  joy. 


ALASKAN   STORIES  149 

The  next  morning,  the  elder  daughter 
said  to  her:  " Mother,  back  there  in 
the  woods  a  little  way  there  is  a  basket 
for  you.  Send  my  brother  to  bring  it."  ; 

The  boy  went  and  soon  came  back 
saying  that  it  was  too  heavy  for  him. 
The  whole  village  went,  but  all  of  them 
together  could  not  carry  the  basket. 
Finally  the  young  wife  went  herself,  and 
she  brought  it  easily  in  one  hand.  But 
when  she  set  it  down  in  the  house  and 
began  to  unpack  it,  behold!  the  place 
was  filled  and  running  over  with  meat  of 
all  kinds.  There  was  a  great  feast  and 
every  one  was  pleased,  but  unfortunately 
the  girls'  mother  ate  so  much  that  in 
the  night  she  became  very  ill,  and  by 
morning  she  was  dead. 

This  is  a  story  told  to  discourage 
greediness. 


150  ALASKAN  STORIES 

THE  EAGLE  CREST 

It  is  well  known  that  there  is  a  cer 
tain  clan  which  claims  the  Eagle  for  its 
crest  or  totem,  and  this  is  how  it  hap 
pened. 

There  was  once  a  very  poor  man,  so 
poor  that  he  could  not  even  get  enough 
to  eat.  He  was  always  cruising  around 
in  a  small  canoe,  trying  to  catch  a  few 
little  fish  with  which  to  keep  himself 
alive.  One  day  he  caught  nothing,  and 
as  he  had  brought  no  food  with  him  in 
the  boat  he  became  very  hungry. 

Early  in  the  morning,  as  he  lay  on 
the  shore,  he  heard  a  voice  but  could  not 
tell  where  it  came  from.  The  voice 
said:  "I  have  come  after  you."  The 
man  looked  all  around  him,  but  saw  only 
a  young  Eagle  perched  upon  the  branch 
of  a  tree.  Then  the  voice  said  quite 
plainly:  "My  grandfather  has  sent  me 


ALASKAN   STORIES  151 

to  get  you."  This  time  the  Eagle  looked 
to  him  like  a  real  person,  and  he  followed 
it  into  the  woods. 

The  trail  led  to  a  fine  large  house  high 
up  on  a  cliff,  and  inside  there  was  plenty 
of  good  food.  There  were  also  mats  to 
sit  upon  and  all  the  comforts  to  be  found 
in  good  houses.  The  Eagles  treated  the 
poor  man  well,  and  since  he  was  wretched 
and  despised  among  his  own  people,  he 
wanted  to  stay  with  them  always.  He 
married  one  of  the  Eagle  women  and 
became  one  of  them. 

Now  the  mother  and  brothers  of  this 
man  were  just  as  poor  and  contemptible 
as  he  had  been,  and  he  pitied  them,  now 
that  he  himself  was  well  off.  Whenever 
he  saw  his  brother  out  fishing,  he  would 
leave  some  fish  where  the  other  could 
find  it.  The  brother  was  astonished  at 
his  luck  and  could  not  account  for  it. 

One  night  his  mother  had  a  dream. 


152  ALASKAN   STORIES 

She  dreamed  that  a  large  fish  might  be 
found  upon  a  certain  point  of  land,  and 
when  they  went  there,  the  fish  was 
where  she  had  dreamed  she  saw  it. 
Soon  afterward  she  dreamed  that  they 
must  camp  on  a  certain  spot,  where  they 
would  find  much  food.  While  they 
camped  there,  they  all  saw  an  Eagle 
bring  a  fish  ashore,  after  which  he  sat 
upon  a  branch  not  far  from  them,  and 
exclaimed :  "Do  not  be  afraid ;  it  is  I !" 
Such  is  the  origin  of  the  Eagle  clan, 
which  is  now  a  large  one  and  respected 
of  all  the  people. 

THE  GIRL  WHO  MARRIED   THE   FIRE 
SPIRIT 

Many  men  wished  to  marry  the  chief's 
pretty  daughter,  but  she  laughed  at 
them  all.  One  day  as  she  sat  quite 
close  to  the  fire,  a  spark  snapped  upon 
her  dress  and  burned  a  tiny  hole  in  it. 


ALASKAN   STORIES  153 

She  pointed  at  the  fire  and  called  it  a 
bad  name  in  her  anger,  for  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  girl  had  a  quick 
temper. 

That  night  the  chief's  daughter  was 
missing.  All  the  people  sought  for  her. 
They  searched  every  house  in  the  village 
and  in  the  other  villages,  wherever  men 
lived  who  had  proposed  for  her  hand. 
When  she  could  not  be  found  anywhere, 
they  employed  the  wisest  medicine  men. 
In  a  far  distant  village  there  lived  one 
whose  power  was  much  talked  about, 
and  when  he  was  consulted  he  said  to 
the  chief : 

"Your  daughter  may  have  said  some 
thing  to  displease  the  Fire  Spirit.  Let 
your  fire  go  out,  and  have  every  one  in 
your  village  do  the  same ;  then  you  may 
hear  something." 

The  chief  came  home  and  sent  his 
crier  through  the  village  to  ask  that 


154  ALASKAN   STORIES 

every  fire  be  allowed  to  go  out.  When 
this  had  been  done,  the  girl  came  up 
between  the  stones  of  the  fireplace. 
The  Fire  Spirit  had  taken  her  to  be  his 
wife! 

After  this,  she  was  permitted  to  spend 
a  part  of  her  time  with  her  family,  but 
whenever  the  burning  wood  whistled  (as 
you  have  sometimes  heard  it  do)  she 
knew  that  her  spirit  husband  wanted  her, 
and  she  was  obliged  to  go  to  him  at  once. 

One  day,  as  she  was  sitting  in  her 
father's  house  stirring  a  dish  of  boiling 
soap-berries,  a  young  man  who  was  in 
love  with  her,  and  who  was  encouraged 
by  her  mother  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
be  able  to  keep  her  always  with  them, 
took  hold  of  the  spoon.  Instantly  the 
fire  whistled  loudly,  and  the  young  wife 
was  terrified. 

"He  wants  me,"  she  murmured,  as  she 
disappeared.  They  never  saw  her  again. 


ALASKAN   STORIES  155 

THE  SHADOW  WIFE 

A  certain  young  man  lost  his  wife 
when  they  had  been  married  only  a  few 
days,  and  he  was  very  sorrowful.  All 
night  he  lay  awake  thinking  about  her. 
The  next  night  and  the  next  it  was  the 
same.  In  the  morning  they  took  away 
her  body  to  bury  it,  and  he  put  on  his 
best  clothes  and  started  off. 

All  day  he  walked  and  all  night;  he 
could  not  stop ;  daylight  found  him  still 
walking.  He  heard  voices  a  long  way 
off,  and  he  followed  them.  At  last  he 
saw  light  through  the  thick  trees  and 
came  out  of  the  woods  upon  the  shore 
of  a  quiet  lake.  All  this  time  he  had 
been  walking  upon  the  death  road,  the 
road  of  spirits,  but  he  did  not  know  it. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  lake  he  saw 
people  and  called  to  them,  but  to  his 
surprise  no  one  seemed  to  hear  him. 


156  ALASKAN   STORIES 

After  he  had  grown  hoarse  with  shouting, 
he  whispered  to  himself:  "Why  is  it,  I 
wonder,  that  no  one  hears  me?  It  is 
not  so  far  over  there ! " 

Immediately  they  heard  him,  and  one 
said:  "It  is  a  person  come  up  from 
Dreamland.  Let  us  go  and  bring  him 
across!" 

They  came  in  a  canoe  and  carried  him 
across  the  lake,  and  when  he  reached 
the  other  side,  the  very  first  person  he 
saw  was  his  wife!  Her  eyes  were  red, 
and  he  saw  that  she  had  been  crying  for 
him.  What  joy  to  see  her  again!  He 
was  so  happy  that  he  could  hardly  bear 
it.  The  people  offered  him  food,  but 
his  wife  warned  him  not  to  eat,  for  if 
he  did  so,  she  said,  he  could  never  return 
to  earth. 

As  it  was,  they  went  back  together  in 
the  canoe,  which  is  called  "Ghost's 
Canoe",  and  started  hand-in-hand  down 


ALASKAN   STORIES  157 

the  long  trail  that  led  to  his  father's 
house.  They  walked  for  a  day  and  a 
night,  and  when  they  arrived,  he  left 
her  standing  outside  and  went  to  speak 
to  his  father. 

" Father,"  said  the  young  man,  "I 
have  brought  my  wife  home!" 

"Why  don't  you  bring  her  in?"  asked 
his  father. 

So  they  arranged  robes  to  make  a 
soft  seat,  and  he  went  out  to  fetch  her 
and  came  in  again,  but  the  people  saw 
him  alone.  There  was  something  like  a 
shadow  that  came  after.  Wherever  the 
young  man  went,  this  shadow  could  be 
seen  to  follow  him.  The  shadow  wife 
never  spoke,  at  least  not  in  the  day 
time,  but  at  night  her  voice  could  be 
heard  plainly.  The  people  in  the  house 
complained  that  it  kept  them  awake. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  two  were  talking  and 
playing  together  all  the  night  long. 


158  ALASKAN   STORIES 

There  was  a  former  lover  of  the  girl 
who  grew  very  jealous  when  her  husband 
by  his  love  brought  her  back  from  Ghost 
Land,  and  one  night  he  hid  himself  be 
hind  their  bed  and  suddenly  raised  the 
curtain.  As  he  did  so,  there  was  heard 
a  rattling  of  dry  bones  and  then  silence. 
In  the  morning  the  young  husband  lay 
dead,  and  the  spirits  of  both  went  back 
to  Ghost  Land. 

THE  SELF-BURNING  FIRE 

One  winter  there  was  a  great  famine 
on  the  Copper  River.  The  people  began 
to  die  of  hunger,  first  the  children,  then 
the  old  people,  and  finally  the  young  and 
strong,  until  at  last  but  eight  men  were  left. 

These  eight  men  set  out  to  walk  to 
another  village  where  food  might  be 
found,  but  they  had  not  gone  far  when 
one  perished  of  cold  and  starvation. 
They  buried  him  and  went  on.  Soon 


ALASKAN   STORIES  159 

another  froze  to  death,  and  a  third  lay 
down  exhausted,  and  so  on  until  only 
one  was  left. 

Now  this  man  felt  wonderfully  strong 
and  walked  on  rapidly,  notwithstanding 
he  felt  great  sorrow  at  the  loss  of  his 
comrades.  Late  that  evening,  he  heard 
a  shout  ahead  of  him  on  the  trail.  He 
followed  the  sound  and  came  to  a  great 
fire  burning  in  the  midst  of  snow  and  ice. 
Then  he  knew  that  it  was  the  fire  he  had 
heard  calling  to  him. 

When  he  had  warmed  himself  thor 
oughly  and  was  about  to  start  on  again, 
he  heard  a  crackling  of  bushes  behind 
him.  He  looked  back,  and  one  by  one 
his  frozen  comrades  came  up  the  trail 
and  warmed  themselves  at  the  fire, 
followed  by  all  the  people  who  had  starved 
to  death  in  the  village.  This  is  the  Self- 
Burning  Fire  which  has  mysterious  power 
and  is  worshiped  by  the  Indians. 


160  ALASKAN   STORIES 

THE  LONG  WINTER 

It  was  almost  summer  time  when 
some  boys  who  were  playing  in  a  boat 
pulled  out  of  the  water  a  long  piece  of 
drifting  seaweed  and  put  it  in  again  on 
the  other  side  of  the  canoe.  For  this 
trifling,  not  only  the  mischievous  boys 
were  punished,  but  all  the  people  in  their 
village. 

For  winter  at  once  came  on  again  with 
fresh  fury,  and  snow  was  piled  so  high 
in  front  of  the  houses  that  the  people 
were  soon  in  want  of  food.  Their  winter 
stores  were  exhausted,  and  they  would 
have  starved  to  death,  had  it  not  been 
for  a  blue  jay  which  one  day  perched  on 
the  edge  of  a  smoke  hole  with  a  spray  of 
fresh  elderberries  in  its  beak. 

"Kilnaxe!  Kilnaxe!"  screamed  the 
jay.  Now  this  was  the  name  of  a  neigh 
boring  town.  So  all  the  people  took  the 


ALASKAN   STORIES-  161 

cedar  bark  they  had  prepared  to  make 
their  summer  houses  of  and  went  to 
Kilnaxe,  where  they  found  it  was  full 
summer  and  the  berries  already  ripe. 
Winter  lingered  only  about  their  own 
village. 

From  this  story  we  learn  that  one  must 
not  insult  anything  —  not  even  a  piece 
of  seaweed. 


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BERKELEY 

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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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